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1401
I think grass was first planted in the early 80s, when the ring of stone benches was
placed and someone brought a prototype of a set of sprinklers, for which the kids
were the happiest!
This was, I think, Korean grass at the time.
Later we found that St Augustine grass was much preferable as it was much
sturdier and required much less water, a definite plus both in terms of water-
conservation and for the health of the tree.
I think that what guided us in planting grass was the sense of that heavenly peace
and delight expressed in the painting Huta had done under the Mother’s direction,
named by her ‘The Spirit of Auroville’, with squirrels, birds and rabbits frolicking
and wild flowers singing from a verdant floor…
The Banyan tree kept growing and extending and, as the construction of the twelve
large and twelve small petals around the sphere proceeded, there was a concern
that somehow one ought to exercise some control, perhaps try to guide the growth
away from Matrimandir, or at least prevent it from reaching closer and interfering in
the constructed parts.
The extent of the shade obviously increased as well and that might jeopardise the
possibility for such flowering shrubs as hibiscuses to be planted in the inner gardens
adjacent to the tree.
This was how it was decided to shift the garden of Unity westwards and to construct
the Unity pond as its new centre.
At the end of the 90s we observed several facts:
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We found a large increase of rot in the main
trunk and in some of the original limbs.
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The canopies, loaded with un-pruned
branches, were reaching the ground almost
all around and some branches were now
lying on outer slope of the nearest of the
small petals.
Making a thorough inspection we found that the lime fillings had prevented us from
seeing the rot continuing underneath, and that there were many crevices and
cracks retaining moisture, havens for all kinds of insects, besides termites.
We also found that several of the original limbs, thus weakened, threatened to
break apart or fall off.
These phenomena had occurred in other banyan trees that were familiar to many of
us: one at ‘Promesse’, which was struck down and collapsed, the other one at the
reception area, eaten away by termites and severely damaged in a storm.
We proceeded to:
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Remove all the lime fillings.
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Thoroughly clean every cavity and, in the
process we had to hollow out much of the
main trunk which had become a spongy
mass of red soil mixed with decomposed
organic matter, and home to a wide variety
of bugs.
-
Cleanse the hollow parts from all fungi and
mushrooms.