April 29: After three de-cades, developmental works at Thimmamma Marrimanu are going to materialise with its adoption by the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD). Many leaders in the past had given assurances to develop the site, but to no avail.
Thimmamma Marrimanu is a huge banyan tree, 550-years-old and spread over eight acres of land. It is in SP Kunta mandal in Kadiri constituency.
A Hyderabad TOI campaign has resulted in the revoking of all tree-cutting permissions in the city. Environmentalist Bittu Sahgal gets nostalgic about the slain banyan tree that triggered it all
In order to stop the damage to the environment by cutting trees during various festivals, Mayor Rajlaxmi Bhosale on Wednesday said the civic administration would initiate action against those selling branches of trees in the city.
The longevity of a banyan tree is often compared with at least seven life spans of a human being and hence women worship this tree for the well-being of their family, especially husband. These days, with more and more women working, there is no time to do the "pheras" around the banyan tree. Hence, small time vendors chop branches and sell them at the market which are bought by women and worshipped.
SOME HIMALAYAN species of Ficus -- the genus to which the pipal and the banyan belong -- yield fruit that have high nutritive value and are excellent for making into jams and jellies. Scientists
