BANYAN TREE

Trees

Eleven days ago, on August 8, this was in the news:

Devastating fire rips through Maui; sparks concerns about beloved banyan 

And subsequently:

More than 100 killed, 1000 still unaccounted for 

How strange and sadly coincidental that I had written this blog way back on June 15 and scheduled it for posting today, August 19.

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If walking by Kuhio Beach in Waikiki, you see an odd-looking massive tree and you’re like, What is that? - then you may just have seen a banyan.

Banyan. Photo: VEV, Waikiki: 2022

Or if you were in Maui, strolling along the Lahaina Court Park that is shaded by a canopy of trees reaching upward to a height of 60 feet, you’d probably think, A whole bunch of trees.

Actually, it is one BIG banyan that has grown sixteen major trunks in addition to its original trunk in the center, all connected together.

Daughters Dwarfed By Giant Banyan.
Lahaina, Maui, 1981

Awesome!

Well, here are a few amazing facts about the banyan, in general.

It's a strangler tree.

It grows from seeds that land on other trees. It sends down roots that smother the host tree and grow into stout, branch-supporting pillars that resemble new tree trunks.

It's gigantic.

The biggest one alive today is in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It covers 4.7 acres and can shelter 20,000 people.

It is many-footed and can walk.

Unlike other trees that have to stay rooted, the banyan actually moves forward slowly with every new trunk it puts out.

It's cosmic.

Hindu texts written more than 2500 years ago describe a banyan growing upside-down with its roots in the heavens. Its trunk and branches extend to Earth to bring blessings to humanity.

 Lahaina Banyan Revisited. 2018

It is considered God's shelter.

In Hinduism, the tree is considered a symbol of immortality and of Brahma the Creator. Its large leaves are often used in worship and rituals. 

Hindus say a banyan tree at Jyotisar is the one Krishna stood beneath when he delivered the sermon of the Bhagavad Gita.

It's been called the tree of life and fertility.

With its unique ability to spread in an ever-widening circle with the help of its aerial roots, the tree achieves a long lifespan

And finally, be on the lookout.

It could be haunted.

According to Hindu mythology, the banyan tree provides shelter to ghosts and other supernatural beings.

Today, the most haunting thought that remains is one of endurance and survival.

To the people of Maui and to the mighty banyan, I invoke the sentiment of this Japanese proverb:

 Fall down seven times, get up eight.

My rallying cry:

HO‘OMAU

Persist. Continue. Perpetuate. Never give up.