Jalikhata: A quaint little village in Assam where a giant two-century-old banyan tree is teaching lessons of sustainability

On the National Highway 27, just between the towns of Pathsala and Patacharkuchi, there stands a sign board that shows the way to supposedly the “second largest Banyan tree in Asia”. What leads in the direction it shows is a narrow concrete road waving its way through villages and paddy fields until you reach Jalikhata, a quaint little village among the lot, approximately 5 km from there.

This village was unknown to the world up until 2012. It was on that summer of June 5 that it grabbed everyone’s attention by organizing a unique birthday celebration for the giant banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) at the heart of the village. That year they said it turned 200. The merrymaking called for a huge 62 kg cake to be cut, greetings and speeches from scholars and forest officials and naam prasanga from the village women.

“Nobody knows whether somebody planted this tree or it sprung up on its own. It has been in our collective consciousness as far as anyone can remember. So, we decided to celebrate its birthday on World Environment Day each year,” says Bhaskar Kalita, the present secretary of the committee to look after the welfare of the tree.

However, an attempt to determine the age of the tree started with the entrepreneurship of Late Ananta Mohan Sarma, an associate professor of Botany from Bajali College. Sarma performed his experiment by talking with the village elders and assembling the stories of their initial stints with the tree. “They (the village elders) had heard of the tree from their predecessors. We analyzed their narration and concluded it would be 200 years old,” Sarma said in a 2012 bi-centenary coverage interview for The Telegraph India.

Sarma also undertook the task to take all the necessary measurements of the tree. With the help of lab equipments and assistance from the villagers, Sarma concluded that the tree’s foliage is spread over about an acre. The circumference of its main trunk is 18.5 meters, while the length of the longest branch and the height of the tallest aerial root are 21 meters and 46 ft respectively. In terms of aerial roots, the tree has more than 600 roots and that number is adding up with time.

Although, since its bi-centenary celebration, the tree has been touted as supposedly the “second largest banyan tree in Asia,” there is no official documentation of the claim. The claim is said to have been made orally by a forest official who attended the bi-centenary celebration. However, when approached by nezine.com, Bhaskar Kalita, the secretary of the tree welfare committee, denied any official citation of the claim yet showed hope for its recognition in near future. “We are trying our best to get it known to the world. Two scholars from Japan and South Korea had already visited our tree and were in awe of its grandeur. Still, there seems to be a long way ahead for it to get officially recognized and taken care of”.

The unestablised claim of the tree is no surprise considering the lack of any reliable up-to-date governmental catalogue. Also the fact that the banyan trees are known for their exponential yearly growth arises many contesting claims for ‘the largest’ from different corners of the world. On top of that, Google search algorithms are key to various misinformation and unverified claims. For instance, a “largest banyan tree” search brings the Great Banyan of Kolkata on the top; while a simple “Jalikhata tree” search brings all the undocumented claims surrounding it.

To track these claims and to prepare a catalogue of these ‘giant trees,’ American botanist Yoav Bar-Ness, then on a Fulbright scholarship to India, undertook an outreach ecology, geography documentary, and biological conservation project in 2008 entitled, “Landmark Trees of India”, where he attempted to map the largest banyan trees across India, along with identifying some other significant trees. The project spanned over two years and the results were published in 2010 on the Outreach Ecology website. In this span of two years, Bar-Ness visited, photographed, and mapped (using GPS technology or direct location on Google Earth) almost one thousand of India’s most famous, sacred, notable, and remarkable trees and as much giant banyan trees as possible. In the end, his survey concluded that in terms of net area, Thimmamma Marrimanu from Andhra Pradesh is the largest with net canopy coverage of 19,107 m2 at the time of the survey.

The Kabir Vad Banyan by the Narmada in Gujarat comes second with net canopy coverage of 17,520 m2. The Giant Banyan of Majhi and the famous Great Banyan of Calcutta come third and fourth with net coverage of 16,769 m2 and 16,531 m2 respectively. But, in terms of largest gross area, before subtracting for clearances, there is a switch of places: the Kabir Vad Banyan emerges the largest at 20,985 m2, and Thimmamma Marrimanu emerges the second largest at 20,190 m2; while the third and the fourth places remain unchanged.

Again, in terms of 1-dimensional crown spread, there is another shift of places: the Giant Banyan of Majhi takes lead at 209 m, followed very closely by the Kabir Vad Banyan at 204 m; while Thimmamma Marrimanu and the Great Banyan come third and fourth respectively. (All the figures conform to the 2010 measurements only) However, taking net canopy coverage as the primary measure of size, Bar-Ness declares Thimmamma Marrimanu from Andhra Pradesh as ‘the largest known tree in the world.’ BBC also runs a photo story on the tree citing these findings.

Going by these projections, it is clear that the four top ranking ‘largest banyans’ from India as well as the world cover net area in between the range of 4-5 acres. So, as per the findings suggested by the committee looking after the Jalikhata tree is concerned, it covers approximately 5 bighas of land, which is roughly an acre or so. It automatically negates the claim, in terms of net canopy coverage. But, as the “Landmark Trees of India” catalogue does not enlist any banyan from the North-Eastern states, the Jalikhata tree has a possibility to fall under one of the largest banyans from this region.

Aside from the dubiousness of the claim, the Jalikhata banyan has surely brought upon an ecological revolution of sorts in the tiny village. The biggest threat the tree faces is from the Kaldia River that flows at dangerous proximity from it.

“The Kaldia River is a lifeline for us, but also a threat to the banyan. It now flows approximately only 30 mtrs away from the main trunk of the tree. When it floods, it submerges half of the tree trunk and its aerial roots. We have been requesting the government for long to look into the matter, but with little avail. With whatever funds we have received so far, we do undertake plantation drive surrounding the tree. In the bi-centenary year itself, we planted 200 saplings surrounding its periphery,” an emphatic Bhaskar Kalita tells nezine.com.

“But the danger is not gone until proper embankment projects are fulfilled to tame the Kaldia,” he adds. The typical fungal infection is another woo for the banyan. It has caused inadvertent damage to the tree with a few of the major branches falling off over time. At the time of writing this article, Bhaskar Kalita has informed nezine.com that a specialist from Nagaon is currently overseeing the fungal infection.

The banyan has also been a catalyst for an ensuing cultural and religious evolution over the years. As early as 1934, the villagers constructed a small Shiva temple beside the tree. Later on, an adjoining Bishnu temple was constructed under the aegis of Late Manik Kalita and Late Loyo Sarania. The entire temple premise is known by the name “Kalibari Shiva Than, Sri Sri Shanti Niketan Jana Sewa Ashram.” Since 1977, the temple has been observing Shiva Chaturdashi Mahamela annually. Apart from that, it holds Paro Suweri and Bhotheli every year on the 7th day of Bohag, the first month Assamese calendar. Both of these festivals are quintessential to the Assamese culture and tradition and are associated with the banyan trees. Although they are observed primarily in the lower Assam region, these festivals attract visitors across regions. There is another wave of visitors who visit the Jalikhata tree seeking blessings for wish fulfillment, as per the Indian legend that terms banyans as Kalpavriksha, the wish-fulfilling tree.

For a tiny village like Jalikhata, where transportation is still spotty, the ‘giant’ banyan has become an emblem of ecological and cultural awareness. Whether for the dubious claim or for the religious significance, the banyan has kept the humble villagers united for safeguarding the tree and simultaneously living sustainably with it. This is a small yet significant step towards the greater environmental goals of the world and any such effort is worthy of recognition. With time, as the banyan grows, so will the stories.

Simanta Barman

(Simanta Barman is a student of MA in Mass Communication and Journalism, Tezpur University. He has also done his Master's in English Literature from the same university. He can be reached at [email protected]. He has produced this feature as part of his internship at nezine.com)

All photographs used in the feature were taken by the author.