A family have made their home under the wall. I inquired if there are more ruins of the fort. Yes, there's one more gateway in the town. The lady of the house told that Savanur actually has four lakes which seems like they have merged to become one.
Another gateway, this one is away from the lake. Looks like Savanur town was enclosed in a fort with four gateways. The right bastion.
Left bastion. I'm outside the fort.
The walls are decorated with art and Islamic inscriptions. Savanur was last ruled by a Nawab. The Nawab's palace, presently houses a government office is in town outskirts.
Other side of the gateway.
I inquired again if there's more of the fort wall. Yes, there one more gateway in the market area. We decided to skip it and move on to see the famous trees of Savanur. We got directions and followed them. The trees stand in the premises of Doddahunase Matha which runs a school and a college.
The three Baobab trees are protected by a fence. The trees are numbered, 1, 2 and 3, Boards provide each tree's height and girth of the trunk.
ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹುಣಸೆ ಮರ
ಈ ವೃಕ್ಷವು ಬಾಂಬುಕೆಶಯ ಎನ್ನುವ ಕುಟುಂಬದ ವರ್ಗಕ್ಕೆ ಸೇರಿದ್ದು ಮೂಲತಃ ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾ ಖಂಡದಿಂದ ಬಂದಿದ್ದು ಜಗತ್ತಿನಲ್ಲಿಯೇ ಅತೀ ಬೃಹತ್ ಆಕರದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಳೆಯುವ ಮರವಗಿದ್ದು. ಗಿಡದ ಬುದವು ಉಬ್ಬಿದ ಬಾಟಲಿಯಂತಿದ್ದು ಬಹಳ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಗಾತ್ರದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಳೆದು ಮೇಲ್ಬಾಗ ಕೂಡಲೇ ಮೊಣಚಾಗುವುದು. ನಮ್ಮ ದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ಈ ಜಾತಿಯ ಕೆಲವೇ ವೃಕ್ಷವು ಇರುತ್ತವೆ. ಪೌರಾಣಿಕವಾಗಿ, ಈ ವೃಕ್ಷವನ್ನು ಭಾಗವನ್ ಶ್ರೀ ಕೃಷ್ಣನು ಆಫ್ರಿಕಾದಿಂದ ಭಾರತಕ್ಕೆ ತಂದನೆಂದು ಉಲ್ಲೇಖವಾಗಿದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಇದರ ಫಲವು ಔಷದ ಗುನಧರ್ಮವನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದೆ. ಗಿಡದ ಬುಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಇತ್ತ ಪದಾರ್ಥ ಕೆಡದೆ ಏರುವ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಹೊಂದಿರುತ್ತದೆ. ಈ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹುಣಸೆ ಕಲ್ಮಟದ ಆವರಣದಲ್ಲಿ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹುಣಸೆ ವೃಕ್ಷ (ಗೋರಖನಾಥ ವೃಕ್ಷ) ಗಳು ಅನೇಕ ಶತಮಾನಗಳನ್ನು ಕಂಡಿದ್ದು, ಇವುಗಳ ನಿಖರ ದಾಖಲೆಗಳು ಸದ್ಯ ಲಬ್ಯಾವಿಲ್ಲ.
These trees, originally from Africa belongs to the subfamily Bombacoideae. The tree is one of the biggest and its trunk looks like a bottle. According to mythology, these three trees were brought from Africa and planted by Lord Krishna. Parts of the tree is said to have medicinal properties. It is also believed that food kept under these trees do not get spoiled. These trees having been around fr few centuries. Currently they are the Dodda Hunase Matha.
Tree No.1 girth is 15.7m and height is 15.5 m
Tree No.2, girth is 12.92m and height is 16.4 m
Tree No.3 girth is 12.62m and height is 15.7 m
These trees look slightly different from the baobab trees in Africa.
I made a short video walking around the trees.
I heard a voice asking me to check out Ganesha in the tree. There it is- a portion of the roots resembles Lord Ganesha's head and trunk. The voice belonged to a teenager, Vinay.
Vinay asked me to take a picture of his and few friends. All four have just finished 9th standard and stepped into 10th. They were here for summer vacation tutions conducted by the Matha. Second from left is Vinay. The soft spoken fellow asked me to see the inside of the Matha.
The fruit is kept along with Vibhuti, leopard skin and a pair of wooden slippers.
I was allowed to hold and feel it. It must have weighed around two kilograms. Extract from Wikipedia page- The fruit is nutritious, possibly having more vitamin C than oranges, and exceeding the calcium content of cow's milk. The dry fruit pulp separated from seeds and fibers is eaten directly or mixed into porridge or milk, and is also known as "sour gourd" or "monkey's bread". In Malawi, the fruit pulp is used to make a nutrient-rich juice. In Zimbabwe, the fruit is known as mawuyu in the Shona language and has long been a traditional fruit. In the coastal areas of Kenya, baobab seeds are called mbuyu and are cooked with sugar, colored, and sold as a snack. Mabuyu is also the term used in Tanzania for seeds of the calabash gourd, which are prepared in a similar fashion.
A picture of the tree with leaves on.
A Baobab sapling.
These are probably the only fully grown Baobab trees in India. Definitely the only trees in Karnataka. Savanur is about 10km off Bankapur cross (between Haveri and Shiggaon) on NH4.
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೧ನೆ ವೃಕ್ಷದ ವಿಸತರ್ಣ ಸುತ್ತಳತೆ ೧೫.೭ ಮೀಟರ್ ಎತ್ತರ ೧೫.೫ ಮೀಟರ್
೨ನೆ ವೃಕ್ಷದ ವಿಸತರ್ಣ ಸುತ್ತಳತೆ ೧೨.೯೨ ಮೀಟರ್ ಎತ್ತರ ೧೬.೪ ಮೀಟರ್
೩ನೆ ವೃಕ್ಷದ ವಿಸತರ್ಣ ಸುತ್ತಳತೆ ೧೨.೬೩ ಮೀಟರ್ ಎತ್ತರ ೧೫.೭ ಮೀಟರ್
These trees, originally from Africa belongs to the subfamily Bombacoideae. The tree is one of the biggest and its trunk looks like a bottle. According to mythology, these three trees were brought from Africa and planted by Lord Krishna. Parts of the tree is said to have medicinal properties. It is also believed that food kept under these trees do not get spoiled. These trees having been around fr few centuries. Currently they are the Dodda Hunase Matha.
Tree No.1 girth is 15.7m and height is 15.5 m
Tree No.2, girth is 12.92m and height is 16.4 m
Tree No.3 girth is 12.62m and height is 15.7 m
These trees look slightly different from the baobab trees in Africa.
I made a short video walking around the trees.
I heard a voice asking me to check out Ganesha in the tree. There it is- a portion of the roots resembles Lord Ganesha's head and trunk. The voice belonged to a teenager, Vinay.
Vinay asked me to take a picture of his and few friends. All four have just finished 9th standard and stepped into 10th. They were here for summer vacation tutions conducted by the Matha. Second from left is Vinay. The soft spoken fellow asked me to see the inside of the Matha.
The fruit is kept along with Vibhuti, leopard skin and a pair of wooden slippers.
I was allowed to hold and feel it. It must have weighed around two kilograms. Extract from Wikipedia page- The fruit is nutritious, possibly having more vitamin C than oranges, and exceeding the calcium content of cow's milk. The dry fruit pulp separated from seeds and fibers is eaten directly or mixed into porridge or milk, and is also known as "sour gourd" or "monkey's bread". In Malawi, the fruit pulp is used to make a nutrient-rich juice. In Zimbabwe, the fruit is known as mawuyu in the Shona language and has long been a traditional fruit. In the coastal areas of Kenya, baobab seeds are called mbuyu and are cooked with sugar, colored, and sold as a snack. Mabuyu is also the term used in Tanzania for seeds of the calabash gourd, which are prepared in a similar fashion.
A picture of the tree with leaves on.
A Baobab sapling.
These are probably the only fully grown Baobab trees in India. Definitely the only trees in Karnataka. Savanur is about 10km off Bankapur cross (between Haveri and Shiggaon) on NH4.
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