It’s about a treebut due to its wonderful foliage and its incredible extension (surprising 19 thousand square meters) it is considered a great forest.
Its about Thimmamma Marrimanua banyan tree found in the Eshwaramala reserve in Kadiri, India, which holds the Guinness record as the largest tree specimen in the world. its more than 4300 aerial roots they spread out in an overwhelming way, and on them the inhabitants of the Gutibayalu village hang their prayers in the form of ribbons. And it is that in addition to this being a special tree due to its size, the banyan is itself a national symbol of India, being considered by Hindus as a sacred being, and specifically by Buddhists as a tree with healing and magical powers, since its leaves and fruits have medicinal properties.
Hindus hold the mythological belief that these trees are a resting place for a divine triad. The god of creation, Brahma, is found in the roots, while Krishna dwells in its trunk and, finally, Shiva, god of death and rebirth, lightly perches on both gods in the form of leaves. In addition to meeting point and divine fusionbanyan trees like Thimmamma are a prose about the contradictions of nature, representing a metaphor about the slight balance of life.
And it is that it is a peculiar tree: its seeds fall into the cavities of other trunks, growing and expanding their roots in them until they take root in the ground like trunks, becoming independent of the trees that hosted them and leaving them dead due to suffocation. . This makes its growth is downward, going from heaven to earth, although some roots ascend in search of the sun’s rays, which makes the banyans expand in all directions in a chaotic and contradictory way of the cross of branches.
Thus the banyans write this prose of branching contradictions, where the new kills the old and development goes from top to bottom, contrary to almost every known organic form of life. Despite the contradictions, for the Hindu religion, trees symbolize a strong connection of the human being with nature, with which peace and harmony must be maintained, for which reason planting trees is keeping the soul of nature in its place and, with it, maintaining the continuity of souls on earth. In addition, sitting near a banyan tree implies freeing the mind, since it allows a deeper connection with the soul of nature that manifests itself there.
The origin of the Thimmamma Marrimanu banyan tree
Thimmamma was a 15th century Hindu woman who immolated herself along with her husband when he died. Her sacrifice gave life to this sacred banyan tree, which grew right where the funeral pyre was located, and which for five centuries expanded to become what it is today: the biggest tree in the world.
In addition, under its branches there is a temple that is a meeting point for massive pilgrimages and festivals, like the one that takes place in the month phalguna (between February and March) in homage to the god Shiva. Thus, religion and the cult of nature merge in a dance in honor of death and rebirth under the branches of this enormous tree that has seen hundreds of people (and many women who go with Thimmamma in search of fertility). That is why the inhabitants of Gutibayalu take meticulous care of this banyan tree, placing pillars to support its thousands of branches and supervising its growth, since it is a symbol of everything they most adored.
*References: The discovery of a gigantic banyan – Documentary
The Tree Spirits: Thimmamma Marrimanu
*Main image: BBC
It might interest you