Oldest Tree of Bijapur

Ever since I saw the first Baobab at Savanur, I've been researching Baobab trees across India and found some 27 in all. Of those 27, two are at Bijapur - one tree is located next to Hazart Hander Shah Ali Hussain Dargah near Ibrahim Roza and another tree at a mosque in Yogapur locality.

July 2; we were on our way from Hyderabad to Dharwad, we'd planned to touch few historical spots en route.. Bijjanahalli, Sedam, Chittapur and Ferozabad.  We arrived at Bijapur around 8-45 PM.

July 3, 2016

We started our tour of Bijapur by 8-AM. First was Ibrahim Rouza. We inquired about the Baobab tree. Not many people were aware of the ancient tree. But then the ticket collector said the tree dried up and collapsed few months ago and nothing was left of it now. The tree was located near a well and we could see the spot. The approach road was dug up hence the spot was not reachable easily. I trusted the TC's words and dropped the idea of visiting the spot. A caretaker suggested us to visit Yogapur instead.

We reached Yogapur (locals say Ogapur) by noon, locating the Dargah wasn't a problem. Happy to be looking at the tree. Compared to trees of Savanur and Golconda, this tree was slightly smaller but had a lovely shape.. like a mushroom.

Pushpa standing next to the tree trunk..  

Gol Gumbaz sitting on the horizon.

Branches spread out equally in all directions.

The dark green lobed leaves seems to be pretty young. Probably 2 months old. There were buds and flowers too.. off-white colored.

Buds are ball-shaped and the cup-shaped flowers have thick petals.

A closer look at a flower being pollinated by a bee.

As we admired the tree, few local people appeared on the scene. Of them one was middle-aged. Sayed was one of the care-takers of the Dargah. He had good knowledge about this tree's medicinal properties.. its leaves and fruits are used to cure health problems. In fact he suggested us to try chewing a leaf which we did. The leaves had a mildly sweet taste.

I mentioned to them about the Baobab at Savanur. In fact Pushpa showed them the video of Savanur trees. Sayed was friendly and spoke about how Sufi ascetics brought Baobab saplings from Africa and planted them in India. In fact these trees are found where Muslim kings ruled.

This lovely Gumbaz is the tomb of three Sayed Shah Imamuddin Quadri, Hazrath Sayed Shah Abdul Gafoor Quadri Shaheed Peeran and Sayeda Bibi Amatal Haleem.

Here's a short video of the tomb and its green companion.

Here is a list of known Baobab trees of India-

1. Hilltop Nightclub, Vagator, Goa
2. Cabo Raj Bhavan, Dona Paula, Goa
3. Quepem, Goa
4. Bamboo Motels, Goa
5. Mahalakshmi Gudi premises, Martur
6. near Ibrahim Roza, Bijapur, Karnataka (this tree died a few years ago)
7. Dodda Hunashe Matha, Savanur, Karnataka
8. Near the aquarium Lalbagh, Bengaluru
9. Attapur, Hyderabad
10. Purana Qilla, Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, Telangana
11. Vansthalipuram, Hyderabad, Telangana
12. near Chappel Road, Hyderabad, Telangana
13. Ranganath temple at Nanakramguda Hyderabad, Telangana
14. Uppal in Chengicherla Reserve Forests, Hyderabad, Telangana
15. Shivalaya on Balachandruni Guttalu, Nalagonda, Telangana
16. Nellore, Andhrapradesh
17. Theosophist Society Gardens, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
18. The American College campus, Madurai, Tamil Nadu
19. Chinmaya Vidyalaya's campus at Ilanthope, Rajapalayam, TN
20. Mangaliawas near Ajmer, Rajasthan
21. Vadodara, Gujarat
22. Dayapur, Gujarat
23. Kutch, Gujarat
24. Bhanagar, Gujarat
25. Baroda, Gujarat
26. Victoria Garden, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
27. Mulund, Mumbai, Maharashtra
28. Byculla zoo, Mumbai, Maharashtra
29. Outside the Vasai fort, Maharashtra
30. Tilak road and Ghole road, Pune, Maharastra
31. near Aurangabad, Maharashtra
32. Mandavgad or Mandu, Madhya Pradesh
33. near Sangam, left bank of the Ganga, Prayag, Uttar Pradesh 
34. Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, Bihar

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