Around seven centuries old and covering over three acres, the giant banyan tree Pillalamarri is a handicapped giant. Unlike its peers—Thimmamma marrimanu in Ananthapur, Andhra Pradesh, spread over five acres and famous as the largest banyan tree in the world, and Kabirvad in Bharuch, Gujarat, which is spread over close to 4.5 acres—Pillalamarri does not have many developed trunks. Hence the ancient banyan tree which has seen generations come and go in Mahabubnagar district, Telangana almost bows to earth due to the heaviness of its laterally growing branches.
The tree was handed over to the Telangana Forest Department for restoration and conservation in January 2018, after one of the branches came crashing down in December 2017. District Forest Officer CH Ganga Reddy, who has been parenting the tree since then, says, “The first step the district administration took was to ban the entry of visitors on the premises. People would often hang from its aerial roots and damage them. As a result, Pillalamarri lacks enough trunks to support growth.”
The forest department has put up around 35 concrete pillars at strategic points to ensure that no other part of the tree comes crashing down. Last year, images of the banyan being put on a pesticide IV drip to rid it of termites went viral. Reddy explains, “In consultation with experts, we drilled small holes on the trunk and injected a pesticide solution. The solution was filled in plastic bottles and injected into the branches and roots. Around 200 bottles went in once every two days.”
Though Pillalamarri is now free of termites, the forest staff regularly checks for signs of relapse. They also check for new aerial roots and provide every care possible to enable its roots to grow, sinking deep into the ground and turn into fresh trunks to support the tree, says B Sumalatha, a Forest Section Officer-in-charge. The giant banyan’s aerial roots are covered with long and wide plastic pipes which touch the ground. A potting mix of red soil vermicompost, coco peat, and other nutrients go into it along with regular watering. They believe that the roots will grow and become strong enough to sustain on their own in two years. Presently there are 45 of them, which have reached the ground.
Lack of regular soil maintenance caused fertility loss and decrease in nutrients, which had compromised root strength and weakened its strength to penetrate the earth. Reddy says that the department’s tilling
and moisture conservation works encouraged natural growth.
Pillalamarri is the favourite child of the state forest department. The department has applied for a special water pipeline connection so that drip irrigation for the tree can aid the revival efforts. The department is mulling applying for a Biodiversity Heritage Site status to the state government. As of now, Telangana has only one such site, the Ameenpur lake on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The feeling is that getting the recognition will pave way for a more formal and structured approach for the conservation of the ancestral entity that has presided over the history of change in the land. Pillalamarri in the local language means the tree of children. Right now, the venerable colossus is destiny’s child.