Baobab trees of Dodda Hunashe Matha, Savanur

April 30, 2011. Until this day, I didn't know that Baobab trees existed in our country and the discovery of Baobabs at Savanur happened by chance. I had come to Savanur to see the fort ruins here. While asking for directions a passerby told us to check out the huge trees at Dodda Hunase Mata. Kannada word Dodda-Hunase means big tamarind. The name generated curiosity and we decided to check out the trees.

The three Baobab trees stand in a triangular enclosure. The collage below shows two pictures.

Going by the sizes of the trees, they could be 500 years old. It is said that Baobab trees were brought from Africa to India by Sufi ascetics. Wherever Sufi caravans camped, saplings were planted and handed over to local people to care for. All Baobab sites in Karnataka are either temple or mosque. Baobabs were considered sacred due to their special qualities. They store huge amounts of water in their trunks and their fruits are highly nutritious. Even its leaves are edible.

Below collage shows an much older photo of Swamiji sitting under one of the Baobab trees here and, a Baobab fruit. This fruit is kept on the Jagali. Since its is considered sacred, it has become an object of worship.

The second visit to this site was on 9th Dec 2012. I was accompanied by my colleague Malatesh. We had come to attend a wedding at Karadgi Veerabhadreshwara Gudi. We were traveling by a car, we visited two temples at Adargunchi and Budarsinghi on the way.

April 15, 2023. Our agenda for the day was to see Siddarameshwara Devastana at Niralgi, Baobab trees at Dodda Hunase Mata and Gange Bavi. We reached Niralgi by 7-15 am, spent about 45 minutes at the temple, had breakfast and then headed towards Savanur. It was around 9-20 when we entered Dodda Hunase Mata. I was seeing this place after 10½ years. The place had changed little... changes not to my liking. A bunch of steel plantings like boards, shelter, etc. were unnecessary, they were an eyesore, they blocked the view of the beautiful trees. This picture below was shot from a side so not much of clutter in the foreground.

The trees are inside a triangular enclosure. Earlier we could walk around the fence and see each of the trees closely. Now the side paths have been blocked. See the number of badly placed boards and shelter. I wish they declutter the place and let visitors experience a clear view of the rare trees.

A few closeup shots. A bunch of buds.

One of the trees has lost a branch exposing the innards. Below is the exposed dry wood. Here you get to see a section of the bark as well. The other picture shows one bud and two spent buds.

These Baobab trees are home to hundreds of bats. I remember shooting a few pictures of a bat wrapping itself with its wings as though it was cold, just the way when a man pulls a blanket while in bed. These bats are quite big. This fellow here seems to be deep in sleep, recharging itself for its nocturnal sojourns.

Even a swarm of bees have chosen to build a honeycomb on one of the trees.

Time to move on. From here we drove to Savanur market area in search of Shivalal Khara shop. The shop hasn't changed at all. It's an old school type of business, only cash payment, UPI payments not accepted. I'm sure even their sweets and savories quality is same as before. We bought khara mixture, sev, soft red halva and one hard sweet. The hard sweet is loaded with sugar and ghee, can't east more 3 or 4 bites. We relished the snacks, I didn't feel much change in the taste. Below are the photos of Shivalal 2012 and 2023. 

2012 and 2023

From Savanur we head towards Gangibavi, a holy well with a natural spring near Shiggaon.

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