Heritage Trees of Mysore

In Indian tradition and culture including folklore, much importance has been given to certain values, which are meticulously followed in order to improve the quality of life. In fact it is a built in character of Indian ethos. One such value is to recognise, respect and to remember our spiritual leaders, saints who are guiding our socio-spiritual life. Similarly ancient monuments and buildings are also greatly revered and protected irrespective of caste or religion.

However, nowadays the great silent services rendered by plants especially trees are seldom recognised or respected. Bearing this in mind some elderly persons -Ramalingam A, Sadananda KB & Veerappa KM formed a humble organization called “Committee for the protection of heritage trees” with the sole purpose of identifying century old trees in the city and environs and to highlight their historical value as well as their ecological values. The committee came into existence in March 2007 and began the work of identifying such old trees. So far SIX such trees belonging to different species have been identified. The approximate age of these trees has been ascertained by gathering information through local knowledge. Their size, crown shape, etc has also been collected, and documented. Secondly, relevant data of such trees as the name of the plant, scientific name, and its family as well as the person/organisation looking after the trees (without harming or mutilating them) has been displayed by means of a small board.

A simple declaration function would be held, where a small gathering of people would assemble and the features of the particular tree would be made aware of. The media, especially the press gave good coverage. Later, quite often, interested school students were taken to the spots on a daylong trip and their salient features would be narrated. Simple tasks such as measuring their height, circumference, birds and other creatures active on the tree were given to the participants. This exercise could not be continued in recent times.

Bio-data of the ‘declared heritage’ trees is as follows;

Photo Credit's: Kishen Das