Uday Krishna Peddireddi who is undertaking the ‘Big Tree Quest’ to visit legendary trees in India.
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL AARANGEMENT
The great peepal tree in Haryana that people believe witnessed the Mahabharata war, the banyan tree in Kanpur from the branches of which 144 freedom fighters were hanged, the African Baobab tree in Hyderabad in which 40 thieves could hide during daytime are some of the stops on the itinerary of Uday Krishna Peddireddi. He calls it the ‘Big Tree Quest’. Mr Peddireddi, a businessman and nature enthusiast from Hyderabad, is set to embark on an endeavour to visit, record and document the heritage trees of India.
The ‘Big Tree Quest’ involves a total 135 trees and counting, which he has mapped out. He just sold an eco-resort he had maintained in the Tipeshwar forests, and was on a break when he had a random thought to visit the oldest 10 trees in the world. “I started doing ground work, and chanced upon so many trees all across our country with interesting history or anecdotes behind them. Then my plan changed to visiting at least one oldest/biggest tree in each State,” Uday Krishna shared.
The more he dug into the topic, the higher number emerged, and he decided not to be confined to a number, and visit every tree with a story behind it. “It was a realisation for me how much the lives of ordinary Indians are intertwined with trees and nature. We are being alienated from such heritage thanks to the development narrative which is proving to be highly destructive,” he said.
Included in his itinerary are the Curzon Tree, a red silk cotton tree from 1900 planted by the viceroy and governor general of India Lord Curzon in Bangalore, and a peepal tree in Jayalakshmi Vilas Mansion in Mysuru worshipped by the Wadiyar rulers.
Another peepal in Bir Babran temple of Hisar, Haryana, which is believed to have witnessed Mahabharat war, is fiercely protected by the local people from several attempts at axing by the government for the past 27 years. Sharing similar history is a 400-year-old banyan tree which came in the way of a highway in Sangli district of Maharashtra. It was half cut before people rallied around and saved it. The highway had to take a detour.
Uday Krishna is choosing his trees based on their size, age and the legend they come with. From Telangana, he has selected the 800-year-old banyan tree in Mahabubnagar, the great tamarind tree in the Osmania General Hospital of Hyderabad which is said to have saved 150 lives during 1908 floods, and the 430-year-old baobab tree in the Golconda Fort.
Several trees on his list have the history of freedom fighters being hanged from their branches. The banyan tree from which the body of the Adivasi freedom fighter of the Santal tribe Tilka Majhi was hung in 1784, and the one in Midnapore, which was used in a gruesome manner to kill Jayi Rajguru, another prominent leader are just two among them. Boodha Bargad (Old Banyan) in Kanpur witnessed another instance of 144 rebels being hanged from its branches.
“The colonial invaders from the East India Company specifically chose banyan, neem and peepal trees to kill the rebels, as the trees were venerated by Indians. It was a scornful act committed to instil fear among the local people against revolting,” Uday Krishna relates.
Trees which are famous for their age and size include the red sanders in Ratnagiri, Maharasthra, the value of which is estimated to be ₹ 100 crore, the ‘passport baba tree’, a peepal in Jamshedpur which has passport and visa applications tied to its branches, a 900-year-old tamarind tree in Devara Hipparagi and a 109-foot-tall Rhododenron in Japfu range of Nagaland.
“All these stories remained scattered all these years. I intend to bring them all at one place for people to know and cherish their history. I am starting a YouTube channel to record each tree and the legend associated with it,” Uday Krishna says.
The 135 trees will require him to clock 40,000 kilometres, which he aims to finish by July-end.
“I will have to wait till June for the roads to be opened to visit the trees in Leh and Ladakh,” Uday Krishna says.
Uday Krishna is an entrepreneur who deals with public infrastructure projects such as foot overbridges and sewage treatment plants, aside of the eco resort he built and was managing in Tipeshwar. Through his Vata Foundation, a non-profit organisation, he has helped translocate more than 2,000 trees in Telangana which were destined to be felled to make way for various development projects. He also helped save around 15 trees in Mumbai, Goa and Nagarkurnool district in Telangana which were uprooted during natural calamities. Initiated into forests and wildlife during childhood by his maternal grandfather who practised herbal medicine, he is also the force behind popular movements in Hyderabad to save urban trees, including 1,300 trees in the KBR National Park, and about 1,000 banyan trees on National Highway 163.
