This particular forest covering more than 19,000 square meters is located in a region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, east of the Kadiri forest reserve. The funny thing is that this wooded mass is composed exclusively of a single tree.
The tree is known as Thimmamma Marrimanu and belongs to the so-called banyan or banyan trees ( ficus benghalensis), a species endemic to Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka.
Banyan trees, which also include other species, are trees that develop in an unconventional way: from top to bottom . The seeds germinate in the cracks in the bark of another tree, growing until the aerial roots form a pseudo-trunk that ends up devouring the host tree and expanding little by little until creating an incredible amalgam of branches and trunks. In itself, the host tree ends its days suffocated by the banyan tree. The branches, which extend horizontally, in turn create new aerial roots that, due to gravity, end up touching the ground and forming new additional trunks.
This tree has great relevance in the religious aspect. Not surprisingly, it is considered the national tree of India and the different parts of the tree are associated with different gods of Hinduism. Thus, the roots are associated with Brahma (creator god and represented with four heads with white beards, four arms and red skin), the trunk with Vishnu (preserving god, represented with bluish skin and four arms) and the leaves with Shiva (god destroyer, represented as a yogi in deep meditation), forming the Trimurti or the ‘Three forms’ of Hindu mythology: creation, conservation and destruction of the universe.
Because the locals have attributed magical properties related to fertility to this tree, it is not surprising that it has become a place of pilgrimage. The largest crowd of people usually takes place during the festival of Maha Shivaratri (the great night of Shiva) that is celebrated on the night of the 13th of the month Phalguna (between the months of February and March) according to the Hindu calendar.
That night, the many pilgrims, who number in the thousands, celebrate a great jatara (night vigil accompanied by music and dance) under the Thimmamma Marrimanu.
A record tree
Religious details aside, the Thimmamma Marrimanu located in the Kadiri reserve is a record tree. It has a canopy that covers 19,107 square meters of surface, hence it appears to form a real forest and has been inscribed in the Guinness Book of Records as one of the largest tree specimens in the world.
Another impressive tree is the Great Banyan tree of the Calcutta Botanical Garden (founded in 1787) with a crown that covers a circumference of 330 meters.
This tree is still growing and, considering that it is in an area full of agricultural fields and surrounded by little arboreal competition, it is not surprising that its 4,000 extraordinary roots continue to spread all around and in all directions.
