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

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