Mar 16, 2024

Baobab trees of Vasai fort

On the 30th of December 2022, Vijay Menon, my friend from Thane had shared pictures of the Baobab tree at Shirala fort. On the 1st of February 2024, Vijay surprised me with pictures of four Baobab trees at Vasai fort. The fort is situated on the northern side of Vasai creek and the Baobabs are opposite Mandvi Darwaza of Vasai fort. Here are the pictures, I'm very happy to be adding another Baobab site to the steadily growing list of Baobab trees in India.

Of the four trees, three are in one cluster bang a stone's throw from the fort doorway. These trees remind me of the Baobab of Lalbagh Botanical Garden in Begaluru. Lalbagh's Baobab is probably one tree which looks like three trees and it could be the same with Baobab of Vasai fort. Maybe it's two trees since there's a date palm in between.

A zoomed out view of the trees.

View of the trees from the gateway.

The fourth Baobab is within 100 meters of Mandvi Darwaza. Going by the looks of the trees, they seem to be relatively young, maybe 150 years. That's my guess, they could bee younger or older.

The sight of these trees is a bitter-sweet feeling. Bitter because of the conditions they are in. Local people ignorant of this tree, for that matter any tree, have dumped construction waste close to it. The pavers around the tree are choking the tree's base. Baobabs grow continuously hence they need open ground around their bases. I hope some local realizes that and removes a few pavers exposing the earth below.

Within the fort are several places of interest such as Vajreshwari Mandir, Hanuman Mandir, Saint Joseph Church, Gonsalo Garcia Church, Saint Anthony Convent, and other ancient ruins. Around Vajreshwari Mandir are a dozen or more sculptures of which Brahma idol is the most eye-catching one. Below is a collage of three sculptures. Extreme left is Brahma and the other two I'm unsure.

Thanks to my friend Vijay for sharing pictures of Baobab trees.

Before closing this post, I would like to add the list of Baobab sites compiled over the past few years:

  1. Hilltop Nightclub, Vagator, Goa
  2. Cabo Raj Bhavan, Dona Paula, Goa
  3. Quepem, Goa
  4. Bamboo Motels, Goa
  5. next to Yogapur mosque, Bijapur
  6. Mahalakshmi Gudi premises, Martur, Kalburgi district
  7. Dodda Hunashe Matha, Savanur, Karnataka
  8. Near the aquarium in Lalbagh Botanical Garden, Bengaluru
  9. Two Baobab trees at Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashaala, Yadavagiri, Mysuru
  10. Purana Qilla, Golconda Fort, Hyderabad, Telangana
  11. Attapur, Hyderabad
  12. Vansthalipuram, Hyderabad, Telangana
  13. near Chappel Road, Hyderabad, Telangana
  14. Ranganath temple at Nanakramguda, Hyderabad, Telangana
  15. Shivalaya on Balachandruni Guttalu, Nalagonda, Telangana
  16. Uppal in Chengicherla Reserve Forests, Hyderabad, Telangana
  17. Nellore, Andhrapradesh
  18. Theosophist Society Gardens, Chennai, Tamil Nadu
  19. The American College campus, Madurai, TN
  20. Chinmaya Vidyalaya's campus at Ilanthope, Rajapalayam, TN
  21. Mangaliawas near Ajmer, Rajasthan
  22. Vadodara, Gujarat
  23. Dayapur, Gujarat
  24. Kutch, Gujarat
  25. Bhanagar, Gujarat
  26. Baroda, Gujarat
  27. Victoria Garden, Sukharamnagar, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
  28. Mulund, Mumbai, Maharashtra
  29. Byculla zoo, Mumbai, Maharashtra
  30. next to Revdanda-Murud road at Korlai, Maharashtra
  31. Tilak road and Ghokale road, Pune, Maharastra
  32. near Aurangabad, Maharashtra
  33. Nana Fadnavis Wada premises, Menawali, Maharashtra
  34. Mandavgad or Mandu, Madhya Pradesh
  35. near Sangam, left bank of the Ganga, Prayag, Uttar Pradesh 
  36. Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park, Bihar

.........

No comments:

Post a Comment