Sit under the iconic banyan trees of Madras

Did you know about the other iconic banyan tree of Chennai? The one at Theosophical Society in Adyar is the most famous and oldest.

The tree at Omandurar Estate: Greenery with a sprinkle of stardust

At the Omandurar Estate with its super speciality hospital, there is a balm for the soul. A banyan tree, reported by those familiar with the place as being over hundred years old, is an unofficial “waiting area” for attenders of patients undergoing treatment at the hospital. The cool breeze from the sea and this towering greenery together provide just the rest the jangled nerves of these attenders need.

The tree has a sprinkle of stardust on it. An old timer notes the place around the banyan figured in a scene in the 1972 blockbuster Nalla Neram, starring MG Ramachandran and KR Vijaya in the lead roles.

Reportedly, the film crew would park themselves under the shade of the banyan tree. T

Text by Srinath M

Highways department conserved it

In the last few years, Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR, its better known name) has undergone whirlwind development having been brought under a special purpose vehicle, Tamil Nadu Road Development Company. As Chennai Metro Rail Limited is at work on this road, the exercise comes across as a case of another layer of modernity being added to an already modernised road. This situation is light years distant from the time when attention first shifted to OMR. At that time, development seemed like an intruder. Even a painful anomaly in a peaceful hinterland marked by loamy fields and sylvan arbours. At places, the road-widening work by the Highways Department seemed to be on a collision course with Nature. Semancherry witnessed an encounter of this kind. A giant banyan tree had spread itself unchallenged for decades, and now it was pronounced a hindrance, being in the way of an emerging road. The Highways Department displayed sensitivity and prudence and removed only a portion of the banyan tree, the portion where it had put down aerial roots, and saved the giant.