New Delhi, March 24 -- As a society, we worship old trees, but we also cut them down brutally. This mirrors our modern stupidity.
Last week, I visited the Akshayavat temple in the Allahabad Fort area in Prayagraj district of Uttar Pradesh.
The temple comprised a huge, joint canopy featuring several ancient Banyan trees -- like a blissful umbrella. Pilgrims folded their hands in prayer, worshipping the family of trees.
Yet, this sentiment is not extended to other old ficus trees in our urban landscape.
They are cut when they become inconvenient for the built city. From the ancient peepal tree at Bodh Gaya -- of great significance to Buddhists -- to the Harshingars inside temples or trees in old sacred groves, species we pray to in one pl...