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We have cared for the Banyan tree for the last 17 or so years. The hollow main
trunk was there already. Narad had stuffed lime brick jelly into the hollow main
trunk, which had only encouraged the process of rot to go on unseen, until we
removed the lime and carefully cleaned out the rot, termites, bugs and the fungus,
cleared the openings for air ventilation and painted the inside with amounts of
neem oil to protect it.
Narad had announced in his write-up on the AV Net that he ‘was not an expert on
banyan trees’ and that ‘an expert should be called’ to assess the tree. Therefore
several people had approached him, and I had written to him an e-mail:
‘… I believe that it would be simple common sense and it would be horticulturally
sound to have the expert’s opinion FIRST, before you do anything to the tree. You
are saying that you yourself are not an expert on banyan trees and I’m sure you
wouldn’t want to make any mistakes. I would kindly like to request you to wait with
any treatment of the Banyan tree. Let the expert be found. Then the next right step
can be taken…’
No reply of course.
The Banyan tree is an entity, a presence, a being much vaster than a little human
being. The barbaric nature of the action of this group against a Great Soul like the
Banyan tree has definitely repercussions on all of us in Auroville. There is fun and
laughter now, but the Universe is responding.
Walter”
Note: I remembered how, not so very long ago, one afternoon, as I was inside the
Banyan tree’s main trunk, cleaning and applying oil on the inner surfaces, Kireet,
visiting Auroville, had come walking by on his way to the Matrimandir, accompanied
by Arjun, holding hands; Arjun had heard me inside the tree, or else he had known
I was there beforehand, and he stopped and called me out, asking Kireet to watch
at the same time; so, when I moved up from where I was crouching and looked out
through the southwards opening the tree had formed with new bark, Kireet saw
me, as if rising out of the tree and he was enchanted; this was a genuine surprise
to him; he had never imagined a person could be inside a tree! And he went on
exclaiming about the psychic being, and was filled with affection and delighted
laughter… This small event now seemed as if from another world, or another life.
Now was serious business! And Kireet had brought it, or helped to bring it about…
A week later, Jithendra too wrote an Open Letter, which he addressed to the official
groups concerned:
*Our Sacred Banyan Tree – Auroville, 24
th
February 2004 – to Matrimandir
Steering Committee, AV Working Committee, Auroville Council – from
Jithendu Kumar, Matrimandir Nursery:
‘Be joyful, you plants that bear flowers and those who bear fruit. Like mares that
win the race together, the growing plants will carry us across.’
(Rig Veda, 10.97.3)
“Why is our banyan tree sacred?