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A new name now for grand old Indian Botanical Gardens

- Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

Star attraction: The 250-year-old Great Banyan Tree at the Indian Botanical Gardens.

KOLKATA: The 230-year-old Indian Botanical Gardens are going to be renamed as Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Botanical Gardens.

Announcing this here, Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh described the move as “a small but important step in recognising Jagadish Chandra Bose’s contribution to Botany”.

This is the fourth time the gardens are being renamed.

Starting off as “Company Bagan” in the days of the East India Company, they came under the management of the Botanical Survey of India in 1953. Covering an expanse of 273 acres on the banks of the Hooghly, the gardens are home to over 12,000 trees and shrubs. They boast of a large collection of palms, ferns, and creepers in addition to aromatic and medicinal plants.

The Great Banyan Tree, one of the main attractions of the gardens, is over 250 years old. Covering an area of 1.5 hectares with over 2,800 prop roots, the tree is a miniature forest. It continues to thrive even after it became diseased when it was struck by lightning and its main trunk had to be removed.

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A new name now for grand old Indian Botanical Gardens

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