Ficus Krishnae trees at Mari Kanive Park, Vani Vilas Pura

It was in the third week of January 2023 I heard from a cousin (actually cousin's husband) that there were Krishnae Ficus trees in a park at Vani Vilas Sagar dam. This dam has been on my 'list of places to see' since primary school years, somehow I never made it. Now, my hunt for Krishna Ficus trees could fulfill the long pending wish. So a plan was formed- drive down to Bangalore and see a few historic spots on the way.

January 23, 2023. I left home around 3-45 AM, reached Dodda Bathi at 6-30 AM. I spent about 20 minutes at Revana Siddeshwara Devastana, weather was pleasant and it was peaceful. Then I went into Davangere city, visited Anekonda Basaveshwara Devastana a temple built during Chalukyan times. Then I headed towards Hiriyur, reached the city by 10 AM. I got off NH48, entered Hiriyur town and took the road to Vani Vilasa Sagar, a 20 km drive. It was around 10-30 AM when I parked the car under a huge Fucus opposite Kanive Maramma Devastana. The dam and its two parks are in sight from the Ficus. Since the primary object of this trip was to find the Ficus Krishnae tree, I decided to check out the parks. Though both parks' gates were closed I decided to check out Karnataka State Tourism park since it had some semblance of a park. I scanned the park area completely, no Ficus Krishnae here. The other park "Aranya Elakhe Prakruti Vihara Vana" looked more like a jungle, as though the place has been abandoned. Even the entrance looked shabby with trash littered all over and the gates were shut. I assumed the gates were locked. I was disappointed and decided to move on... let me check the dam and any other garden at the hill top guest house.

Maari Kanive dam is 43m high, it was built from 1897 to 1907 to impound river Vedavathi, a tributary of river Tungabhadra. The dam's reservoir Vani Vilas Sagar is named after its proponent Rani Kempa Nanjammani Vani Vilasa Sannidhana, the widow of Raja Chamaraaja Wadiyar of Mysore Kingdom. The name Maari Kanive is derived from the Maari shrine situated next to the dam. Kanive means valley. I drove up the hill and parked at the guest house gates. It's a small premises, I scanned it quickly, found no Ficus. My disappointment went by a few more degrees. The view of the dam, hills and the sprawling reservoir kept me distracted for some time. On asking the guest house caretaker about my subject, his answer was little encouraging.. he asked me to check out the forest department park. I told him about the locked gates and told him that I might check at the forest office close to the park.

Before leaving I stopped to take a few pictures of the park's entrance. Since I had stopped I decided to freshen up with a quick face wash and have water. I noticed the smaller swing gate slightly ajar, and went closer... it wasn't locked! My hope was up again.

I stepped into the park which was mix of a trash yard and a jungle. I ventured with slight hesitation... place looked perfect for a stick up. After a few minutes of exploring I shook of the hesitation. This park, a collection of theme gardens, had been developed on the same concept as Deva Deva Vana near Bidar. There were boards which read Nandana Vana, Gulabi Tota, Japanese Udhyana Vana, Ashoka Vana, Shiva Panchaya Vana and lastly Bruhat Panchavati Vana. The moment I saw "Bruhat Panchavati Vana" board, hope of finding Ficus Krishna rose again. The requirements of a Panchavati Vana are five types of trees: Ashwatta, Banni, Bilwa Patri, Neem and a country fig i.e. Ficus. Also the Panchavati Vana at Bidar has four Ficus Krishnae.

A shepherd grazing sheep came into sight. I asked him if there's a tree with cup-shaped leaves. No. The moment he answered coincided with me spotting a tree with familiar leaves. I went closer and lo it was a Krishna Ficus! I thanked my cousin's husband in my mind. 

A closer look at the buttercup leaves. Some of the leaves were still velvety and some smooth.

Then I called the shepherd and showed him the leaves, he was surprised to see the cup-leaves and remarked that he never paid attention to them. Next I asked of there were any more such trees. Yes, there are four such trees here. At the center of this 'Vana' is a Mantapa, around the Mantapa at 90° interval are four Ficus trees and along the perimeter are a dozen Amla trees. Also in this garden are two Bilva Patri and one Ashwatta tree, however I couldn't find Banni and Neem trees here. May be those trees are lost. For now, lets take a look at the other three Ficus Krishnae here.

Going by the girth of the stem and branches, these trees could be 15 to 25 years old. They seemed to well cared for in their earlier years. None of the trees have developed aerial roots yet. 

Of the four trees, this tree has the most branches.

This one took a slanting stance, probably while it was very young.

Here are a few close up shots of leaves.

Its sad to see the state of this park. Going by the weeds, the park hasn't been cared for in the past two years. While researching, I happened to see a few pictures of this park uploaded between Aug 2014 and Dec 2017. One of the pictures show Panchavati Vana Mantapa with a Krishnae Ficus in the background however it is not recognizable. Also there are photos showing murals of Chitradurga fort on the park's entrance walls. Apparently there is a plan to revive this park and a budget has been sanctioned. I hope Karnataka state forest department revives the park at least for the sake of the rare Krishnae Ficus trees.

Truly this tree is rare because I have managed to locate just five sites in Karnataka including this place. The other four sites are:

1. Botanical Garden inside Karnataka University, Dharwad

2. Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, Bengaluru

3. Deva Deva Vana near Bidar and

4. Discovery Village resort, Vaderahalli, Bengaluru-Kanakapura highway

There could be other sites as well... until their discovery. While we are talking about rare trees, I would like to mention Baobab trees as well. In the past 15 years of traveling, I've seen Baobab trees in just seven places. Here's a link to the article on the Baobab trees of Karnataka and Telangana.

Dear reader, if you happen to come across any other Baobab or Krishna Ficus tree or any other rare tree, do share the location details as a comment.

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