The fascinating world of the Great Banyan Tree

We are all familiar with banyan trees. It is native to India and is botanically known as ficus benghalensis. The name ‘banyan’ has come from ‘baniya’ because the tree is associated with traders or baniyas meeting below it. One tree has made it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s widest tree. Yes, we are talking today about the Great Banyan Tree in the Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Botanical Garden, Howrah, West Bengal. Since it’s near Kolkata, it attracts a lot of tourist attention as well.  

Quick facts about the Great Banyan Tree  
Here are some interesting facts about the banyan tree: 

• The tree is over 250 years old  
• It covers about 14,500 square metres of land (3.5 acres), making it the widest tree in the world 
• From a distance, the tree looks like a forest, but what appear to be individual trees are actually more than 3600 aerial or prop roots  
• A 330-meter-long road was constructed around the tree to allow visitors to drive around the circumference, but the Great Banyan continued to spread. So one gets the feeling of driving through a tunnel of trees when going around it 
•  The canopy of the tree is already over 450 metres and growing 
• The great banyan tree is also home to nearly 87 species of birds 
• It does not have a trunk!  

How did the Great Banyan Tree lose its trunk? 
The tree suffered two great cyclones, one in 1884 and another in 1886 (some accounts say 1864 and 1867). Both cyclones broke the trunk, which left the tree open to fungal attacks. The fungal diseases caused some damage, but the tree recovered. However, the Great Banyan Tree was not too lucky and it was struck by lightning in 1925. This strike split the 51 foot wide main trunk, and it decayed so much from fungal infection that it had to be ‘amputated’. Fortunately, the ‘clonal colony’ of the tree, made up of aerial roots, remained healthy. This forest of roots makes the centre of the tree inaccessible, but if you can make it there, you will find a small monument marking the spot where the trunk had fallen.