Goa Governor P. S. Sreedharan Pillai inaugurated a day-long symposium on the traditional trees of India, titled 'Vriksha Vygnanika Sadassu', at the Raj Bhavan on April 21. In attendance were experts from various fields who presented papers on traditional trees that have been worshipped over the years in India. “Trees shelter thousands of creatures of all kinds―algae, fungi, insects, squirrels, birds, snakes and other reptiles, animals and humans,” Pillai told THE WEEK. “Every single part of a tree is useful, either as food, medicine, fuel, timber, or as source material for building various things. We must understand and appreciate their indispensable and invaluable existence on the planet.”
In their research paper titled, 'Indian traditional trees and their scientific relevance', researchers Amit Kumar Tiwari, Indrajeet Chaudhary and Alok Kumar Pandey mentioned how bel (Aegle marmelos) and rudraksha (seed of Elaeocarpus) were associated with Shiva, peepal tree with Vishnu, mango (Mangifera indica) with Hanuman and Ashoka tree with Kamadeva.
With the vedic civilisation and the knowledge of ayurveda, they added, society came to worship tulsi (Ocimum tenuiflorum), peepal (Ficus religiosa), banyan (Ficus benghalensis) and neem (Azadirachta indica) for their medical importance.
Dr Pradip Sarmokadam, member secretary, Goa State Biodiversity Board, spoke about the “traditional application of sacred flora of India in yajnas and associated rituals”. The enormous research carried out by vedic scholars and subsequent experts, he said, should be further institutionalised as it has integrated a conservation ethos into lifestyles for the betterment of humanity. “If disregarded and neglected, we would be deprived of a huge knowledge repository that is well documented and has verification methods,” he said.
The knowledge lies scattered and needs to be further strengthened by the integration of knowledge holders, he said. “I suggest we create conservatories of floral diversity of samidha (floral parts used as sacrificial offerings in yagnas) and make them available in its genuine form to establish ground-level successful models to depict floral diversity and its connect with Indian mythology,” he added. “We should create facilities that would provide dignity to the scholars and sustainability to those growing samidha and sacred flora. Livelihood opportunities in this sector should be explored. We should create dedicated libraries and research centres to simplify and ensure availability of vedic literature, plant-related knowledge and we should validate these by using modern scientific methods. People's Biodiversity Registers (PBRs), under the Biological Diversity Act, are under preparation and should capture traditional wisdom-based knowledge systems such as vedic rituals and associated wisdom, along with such knowledge and practices in other religions as an important basis that will lead to conservation of biodiversity.”
N.K. Sundareswaran, professor of Sanskrit at Calicut University, elaborated on the topic of 'Trees in the vedas'. “Here, the metaphor of the nest implies a huge tree, which is seen as a support of the ecosystem,” he said. “One may recall the explicit description of a similar huge tree in the Mahabharat: A huge tree flourishing, many living beings find an abode and habitat in it. When the tree is burnt, those living beings are rendered homeless. Of all the literary expressions of trees and forests in vedic literature, the aranyanisukt (the hymn of the thick woods) of the Rig Veda is the most noteworthy. It is a small hymn, but it carries much value from literary and ecological angles. The frightening solitude of the wild and thick woods is given a beautiful expression.... The deep forest is extolled as the Universal mother, not harming anybody (unless it is afflicted), and providing sweet and healthy food (fruits) in plenty.”
Sundareswaran talked about agriculture and how its practice is extolled in the Rig Veda. “We get references to the foodgrains that are cultivated and are utilised to prepare different food items and sacrificial offerings,” he said. “Grains such as wheat, barley, and rice, cereals and seeds such as mustard and sesame are mentioned as part of rituals.”
Retired professor Janarthanam addressed palm trees and disappearing traditions in south India, while other experts such as Rajendra Kerkar and Dr Sindhu A. spoke about the tradition of sacred trees in Goa, medicinal trees and the ethno-medicinal flora of sacred groves. In the same context, Pillai spoke about his project, 'Vaman Vriksha Kala', a monograph focusing on the specialised subject of bonsai. The name of the book means 'The art of miniature trees'. The prime intention of the book, he said, was to firmly establish the fact that bonsai is originally an Indian art, as against the widely held belief that it belongs to China and Japan. “In the book, I have provided sufficient evidence from ancient Sanskrit texts to establish this claim that the art of bonsai has its roots in India, and why our ancestors reduced trees to potted size,” he said. “After I took charge as governor in July 2021, I had the occasion to visit Partagali Mutt in Canacona taluka. There I saw this 1,000-year banyan tree. It was then that I decided that one day I would return to worship this great tree. About a year later, I began the Saimik Daiz Yatra (journey to learn about heritage trees of Goa) and that is when I learnt about 30 more heritage trees, all of them between 100 and 500 years, spread out across Goa. Some amazing trees I found were shidam, satvin, baobab, and more. These trees constitute an integral part of people's socio-cultural association with nature and environment.” His yatra resulted in the writing and publication of Heritage Trees of Goa, which was released by the West Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose last year.