DAILY PHOTO: Dodda Alada Mara Banyan

Taken on March 28, 2015 at Dodda Alada Mara.

Taken on March 28, 2015 at Dodda Alada Mara.

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This 1.2 hectare (3 acre) banyan tree sits 28 kilometers  (17.4mi.) to the west of Bangalore. The tree suffered root rot in the last decade and doesn’t display the lush, unified canopy as it once did. (I’m not certain whether the damage to the tree was completely natural, was tied to Bangalore’s precipitously rising pollution, or whether the true culprits are all the jackasses who feel the need to carve their initials in the tree’s roots.) However, the giant banyan is still home to many macaque families, and even as it is dying from within the tree is attempting to escape over its’ fence onto  adjacent lands.

DAILY PHOTO: Tree of Dreams

Taken at Hampi in March of 2014.

Taken at Hampi in March of 2014.

This banyan tree at Hampi had hundreds of sachets tied to its falling roots. The tree is considered sacred and people put prayers in the sacks with small symbolic objects in hopes of seeing their wishes granted.