If trees could talk, the 250-year-old Banyan at the Indian Botanic Garden in Kolkata would, indeed, have some interesting tales to tell!
Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury
The great banyan tree: Approximately 250 years old and spread over 1.5 hectares with more than 2880 prop roots.
When was the last time you saw a tree moving? With its age pegged approximately at 250 years, the ever-expanding Great Banyan Tree located in the Indian Botanic Garden in Howrah, Kolkata is described as a tree in motion.
Those of us who are familiar with the story of Macbeth would remember the power hungry monarch’s shock and disbelief, when, true to the prophecy of one of the three witches, he looked out to see Birnam wood moving towards Dunsinane, his castle. While it would be quite impossible to notice the motion of the Banyan Tree — its scientific name is Ficus Benghalensis L — its ever-growing number of aerial roots (around 2880) give it an appearance of a multi-limbed creatu
re on the prowl.
A rare sight
“The tree is indeed progressing at the rate of five to six metres a year,” said Dr. M. Sanjappa, Director, Botanical Survey of India. The constant growth has ensured that around 400 new roots remain outside the encircling fence that was initially erected in 1985 to protect it from being harmed or vandalised. “A new fence enclosing them will come up soon,” said Dr. Giri, Joint Director, Indian Botanic Garden. It is interesting to note that what will remain inside the fence is a network of roots, as its main trunk, with a girth of 16 metres, had been removed in 1925 because of decay.
Today, the tree — a native of India — covers an area of about 1.50 hectares and reaches up to a height of around 24.5 metres. It remains on the must-see list for tourists while for the passer-by it offers its canopy of dense foliage as an excuse to sit under it and while away time. As the only witness to the birth of the Botanic Garden in 1787 and having survived the damages caused by cyclones in 1864 and 1867, it awaits to fulfil whatever historic role the future may hold for it.
What’s in A name?
The proper noun Banyan refers specifically to the species F. benghalensis. Over time, the name became generalised to refer to all strangler figs. It appears that “banyan” is the more common term in Asia, Australia and Oceania, while “strangler fig” is more often used in the Americas and Africa. It is also known as Bengal fig, Indian fig, East Indian fig, Indian Banyan or Banyan, a species of banyan endemic to Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.
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