On a cold afternoon in Srinagar, the rain settles gently on the bare branches of the Chinar trees. Their limbs stretch over streets. Beneath one such Chinar in the Muniwarabad area of the city, Ali Mohammad Sheikh pauses to look. A 50-year-old shopkeeper from Pulwama, Sheikh peers closely at its massive trunk, where a small metal plate bearing a QR code has been carefully fastened. It is something he has never seen before.
Wrapped in a grey pheran, Sheikh studies the tag with curiosity. “Only when I asked did I learn that the government has done this to document and protect these trees.” The metal tag links the Chinar to a digital profile that records its age, girth, location, health, and ecological status. It is part of a wider conservation initiative that aims to give each surviving Chinar tree in Kashmir a unique identity, much like an Aadhaar number, in an effort to reverse decades of neglect and unchecked loss.
Locally known as bouin, the Chinar is a large deciduous tree of the Platanaceae family, rising up to 30 metres or more. Its trunk widens steadily with age, often reaching enormous girths. Many Chinars live for centuries, some are believed to be over 700 years old. Kashmiri poet and historian Zareef Ahmad Zareef places the Chinar at the very beginning of Kashmir’s story. “When Kashmir was introduced to the world, the Chinar was already here,” he says. “It is Kashmir’s own tree.” Historical records trace the Chinar’s presence in Kashmir back at least 1,700 years. “The Gilgit manuscripts from the third century mention it,” Zareef says.
The Mughals later cemented the tree’s place in Kashmir’s cultural life, creating more than 350 gardens across the valley. For centuries, Chinars were planted deliberately along two-way and three-way roads so that travellers could walk, pause and resume their journey under the shelter of its canopy.
Across seasons, the Chinar reshapes everyday life in the valley. For instance, in summer, its broad, fan-shaped leaves expand into dense canopies, offering refuge from the heat. In autumn, the leaves loosen their grip, falling in deep shades of crimson, rust and gold, drawing photographers, tourists and locals alike. In winter, snow settles on bare branches, turning the trees into sculptural forms.
Yet in recent decades, the Chinar’s presence has grown increasingly fragile. Concerned by the decline, Zareef formed the Bouin Bachav Committee in 1984, bringing together Kashmiri Pandits and Muslims to campaign for the tree’s protection. “There was no proper record of their number, health or even their exact locations,” says Syed Tariq, Project Coordinator of the Chinar Conservation Project. The turning point came around 2021—the first comprehensive census of Chinar trees across Kashmir.
Each Chinar is now recorded through a Chinar Tree Record System, or CTRS. The initiative began in Srinagar and has since expanded to almost all districts of Kashmir. So far, around 30,000 Chinar trees have been identified and documented. Another 6,000 to 8,000 are believed to be located in inaccessible or restricted areas. The census has also yielded striking findings. A Chinar in Ganderbal, with a girth of 74 feet, is believed to be among the largest in the world. Of roughly 20 monumental Chinar trees globally, officials say at least 11 are located in Kashmir.
Back in Muniwarabad, Ali Mohammad Sheikh takes one last look at the QR-tagged tree before moving on as rain continues to fall on its thick branches. The Chinar stands as it always has, rooted, watchful and enduring. Only now, it carries not just centuries of memory, but a digital record meant to ensure its survival in a rapidly changing Kashmir valley.