Another day of five forts. I started with Dambal (Dambal fort was a surprise, I did not know it existed) followed by Mundargi, Shrimantgad, Savanur and then Bankapur. I arrived at Savanur from Laxmeshwar. We drive by Savanur lake, its almost empty, I could see excavators and tractor-trailers on the lake bed, some type of maintenance work being carried out. I could see remains of a fort gateway right next to the lake. If not for these remains one would not know a fort did surround Savanur.
A family have made their home under the wall. I inquired if there are more ruins of the fort. Yes, there's one more gateway in the town. The lady of the house told that Savanur actually has four lakes which seems like they have merged to become one.
Another gateway, this one is away from the lake. Looks like Savanur town was enclosed in a fort with four gateways. The right bastion.
Left bastion. I'm outside the fort.
The walls are decorated with art and Islamic inscriptions. Savanur was last ruled by a Nawab. The Nawab's palace, presently houses a government office is in town outskirts.
Other side of the gateway.
I inquired again if there's more of the fort wall. Yes, there one more gateway in the market area. We decided to skip it and move on to see the famous trees of Savanur. We got directions and followed them. The trees stand in the premises of Doddahunase Matha which runs a school and a college.
The three Baobab trees are protected by a fence. The trees are numbered, 1, 2 and 3, Boards provide each tree's height and girth of the trunk.
A family have made their home under the wall. I inquired if there are more ruins of the fort. Yes, there's one more gateway in the town. The lady of the house told that Savanur actually has four lakes which seems like they have merged to become one.
Another gateway, this one is away from the lake. Looks like Savanur town was enclosed in a fort with four gateways. The right bastion.
Left bastion. I'm outside the fort.
The walls are decorated with art and Islamic inscriptions. Savanur was last ruled by a Nawab. The Nawab's palace, presently houses a government office is in town outskirts.
Other side of the gateway.
I inquired again if there's more of the fort wall. Yes, there one more gateway in the market area. We decided to skip it and move on to see the famous trees of Savanur. We got directions and followed them. The trees stand in the premises of Doddahunase Matha which runs a school and a college.
The three Baobab trees are protected by a fence. The trees are numbered, 1, 2 and 3, Boards provide each tree's height and girth of the trunk.
ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹುಣಸೆ ಮರ
ಈ ವೃಕ್ಷವು ಬಾಂಬುಕೆಶಯ ಎನ್ನುವ ಕುಟುಂಬದ ವರ್ಗಕ್ಕೆ ಸೇರಿದ್ದು ಮೂಲತಃ ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾ ಖಂಡದಿಂದ ಬಂದಿದ್ದು ಜಗತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಅತೀ ಬೃಹತ್ ಆಕರದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಳೆಯುವ ಮರವಗಿದ್ದು. ಗಿಡದ ಬುದವು ಉಬ್ಬಿದ ಬಾಟಲಿಯಂತಿದ್ದು ಬಹಳ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಾತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಳೆದು ಮೇಲ್ಬಾಗ ಕೂಡಲೇ ಮೊಣಚಾಗುವುದು. ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಜಾತಿಯ ಕೆಲವೇ ವೃಕ್ಷವು ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಪೌರಾಣಿಕವಾಗಿ, ಈ ವೃಕ್ಷವನ್ನು ಭಾಗವನ್ ಶ್ರೀ ಕೃಷ್ಣನು ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾದಿಂದ ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ತಂದನೆಂದು ಉಲ್ಲೇಖವಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಇದರ ಫಲವು ಔಷದ ಗುನಧರ್ಮವನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ಗಿಡದ ಬುಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಇತ್ತ ಪದಾರ್ಥ ಕೆಡದೆ ಏರುವ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಹೊಂದಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹುಣಸೆ ಕಲ್ಮಟದ ಆವರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹುಣಸೆ ವೃಕ್ಷ (ಗೋರಖನಾಥ ವೃಕ್ಷ) ಗಳು ಅನೇಕ ಶತಮಾನಗಳನ್ನು ಕಂಡಿದ್ದು, ಇವುಗಳ ನಿಖರ ದಾಖಲೆಗಳು ಸದ್ಯ ಲಬ್ಯಾವಿಲ್ಲ.
Tree No.1 girth is 15.7m and height is 15.5 m
Tree No.2, girth is 12.92m and height is 16.4 m
Tree No.3 girth is 12.62m and height is 15.7 m
These trees look slightly different from the baobab trees in Africa.
I made a short video walking around the trees.
I heard a voice asking me to check out Ganesha in the tree. There it is- a portion of the roots resembles Lord Ganesha's head and trunk. The voice belonged to a teenager, Vinay.
Vinay asked me to take a picture of his and few friends. All four have just finished 9th standard and stepped into 10th. They were here for summer vacation tutions conducted by the Matha. Second from left is Vinay. The soft spoken fellow asked me to see the inside of the Matha.
The fruit is kept along with Vibhuti, leopard skin and a pair of wooden slippers.
I was allowed to hold and feel it. It must have weighed around two kilograms. Extract from Wikipedia page- The fruit is nutritious, possibly having more vitamin C than oranges, and exceeding the calcium content of cow's milk. The dry fruit pulp separated from seeds and fibers is eaten directly or mixed into porridge or milk, and is also known as "sour gourd" or "monkey's bread". In Malawi, the fruit pulp is used to make a nutrient-rich juice. In Zimbabwe, the fruit is known as mawuyu in the Shona language and has long been a traditional fruit. In the coastal areas of Kenya, baobab seeds are called mbuyu and are cooked with sugar, colored, and sold as a snack. Mabuyu is also the term used in Tanzania for seeds of the calabash gourd, which are prepared in a similar fashion.
A picture of the tree with leaves on.
Savanur is about 10km off Bankapur cross (between Haveri and Shiggaon) on NH4. Baobab trees are rare in Karnataka, the only other two known trees are in Bijapur. It is said that Baobab saplings were brought to India by Sufi ascetics. They were planted by the ascetics as they travelled across the country. The saplings which survived to become trees can be seen are mostly in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh. Hyderabad and Chennai are home to at least one tree each.
೧ನೆ ವೃಕ್ಷದ ವಿಸತರ್ಣ ಸುತ್ತಳತೆ ೧೫.೭ ಮೀಟರ್ ಎತ್ತರ ೧೫.೫ ಮೀಟರ್
೨ನೆ ವೃಕ್ಷದ ವಿಸತರ್ಣ ಸುತ್ತಳತೆ ೧೨.೯೨ ಮೀಟರ್ ಎತ್ತರ ೧೬.೪ ಮೀಟರ್
೩ನೆ ವೃಕ್ಷದ ವಿಸತರ್ಣ ಸುತ್ತಳತೆ ೧೨.೬೩ ಮೀಟರ್ ಎತ್ತರ ೧೫.೭ ಮೀಟರ್
These trees, originally from Africa belongs to the subfamily Bombacoideae. The tree is one of the biggest and its trunk looks like a bottle. According to mythology, these three trees were brought from Africa and planted by Lord Krishna. Parts of the tree is said to have medicinal properties. It is also believed that food kept under these trees do not get spoiled. These trees having been around fr few centuries. Currently they are the Dodda Hunase Matha.
Tree No.1 girth is 15.7m and height is 15.5 m
Tree No.2, girth is 12.92m and height is 16.4 m
Tree No.3 girth is 12.62m and height is 15.7 m
These trees look slightly different from the baobab trees in Africa.
I made a short video walking around the trees.
I heard a voice asking me to check out Ganesha in the tree. There it is- a portion of the roots resembles Lord Ganesha's head and trunk. The voice belonged to a teenager, Vinay.
Vinay asked me to take a picture of his and few friends. All four have just finished 9th standard and stepped into 10th. They were here for summer vacation tutions conducted by the Matha. Second from left is Vinay. The soft spoken fellow asked me to see the inside of the Matha.
The fruit is kept along with Vibhuti, leopard skin and a pair of wooden slippers.
I was allowed to hold and feel it. It must have weighed around two kilograms. Extract from Wikipedia page- The fruit is nutritious, possibly having more vitamin C than oranges, and exceeding the calcium content of cow's milk. The dry fruit pulp separated from seeds and fibers is eaten directly or mixed into porridge or milk, and is also known as "sour gourd" or "monkey's bread". In Malawi, the fruit pulp is used to make a nutrient-rich juice. In Zimbabwe, the fruit is known as mawuyu in the Shona language and has long been a traditional fruit. In the coastal areas of Kenya, baobab seeds are called mbuyu and are cooked with sugar, colored, and sold as a snack. Mabuyu is also the term used in Tanzania for seeds of the calabash gourd, which are prepared in a similar fashion.
A picture of the tree with leaves on.
Savanur is about 10km off Bankapur cross (between Haveri and Shiggaon) on NH4. Baobab trees are rare in Karnataka, the only other two known trees are in Bijapur. It is said that Baobab saplings were brought to India by Sufi ascetics. They were planted by the ascetics as they travelled across the country. The saplings which survived to become trees can be seen are mostly in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh. Hyderabad and Chennai are home to at least one tree each.For the reader's benefit, I'm posting a list of known Baobab tree sites of India:
- Hilltop Nightclub, Vagator, Goa
- Cabo Raj Bhavan, Dona Paula, Goa
- Quepem, Goa
- Bamboo Motels, Goa
- Mahalakshmi Gudi premises, Martur
- near Ibrahim Roza, Bijapur, Karnataka (this tree died a few years ago)
- near the tombs of Yogapur, Vijayapura
- Near the aquarium in Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru
- Attapur, Hyderabad
- Purana Qilla, Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, Telangana
- Vansthalipuram, Hyderabad, Telangana
- near Chappel Road, Hyderabad, Telangana
- Ranganath temple at Nanakramguda Hyderabad, Telangana
- Uppal in Chengicherla Reserve Forests, Hyderabad, Telangana
- Shivalaya on Balachandruni Guttalu, Nalagonda, Telangana
- Nellore, Andhrapradesh
- Theosophist Society Gardens, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
- The American College campus, Madurai, Tamil Nadu
- Chinmaya Vidyalaya's campus at Ilanthope, Rajapalayam, Tamil Nadu
- Mangaliawas near Ajmer, Rajasthan
- Vadodara, Gujarat
- Dayapur, Gujarat
- Kutch, Gujarat
- Bhanagar, Gujarat
- Baroda, Gujarat
- near Gujarat College / Victoria Garden / Sukharamnagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
- Mulund, Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Byculla zoo, Mumbai, Maharashtra
- Outside the Vasai fort, Maharashtra
- Tilak road and Ghole road, Pune, Maharastra
- near Aurangabad, Maharashtra
- Mandavgad or Mandu, Madhya Pradesh
- near Sangam, left bank of the Ganga, Prayag, Uttar Pradesh
- Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, Bihar
.........
Thanks for educating about Baobab trees . Amazing rite up
ReplyDeleteFound two more Baobab trees, planted during Adil Shahi rule at Bijapur - http://indiasendangered.blogspot.in/2010/08/adansonia-digitata-one-of-ten-heritage.html
ReplyDeleteHi there!
ReplyDeleteThere are dozens of baobabs. There's a database of a few of them at http://www.outreachecology.com/landmark
Nice info.
ReplyDeleteThank you outrechecology and Mohan Chandra.
ReplyDeleteWith some research I realize there are a several baobab trees across India especially Gujarat and Maharastra. Looks like Gujarat has close to 1000 baobab trees.
wonderful trees,said to be 5000 years old!well fenced and protected by govt.
ReplyDelete