Arunachala Trees

Even though this season has not been rainy, the green cover of Arunachala is very apparent from wherever the Hill is viewed. I took the below photographs while seating on the roof of the Tasty Cafe, a very nice restaurant at the back of Seshadri Ashram.

The number of woody species found on Arunachala is between 150-200. The most plentiful are Satin-wood, Vepaalai, Indian Laburnum, Vengai, Udupai, Vitex altissima (peacock's foot), Strychnos potatorum (clearing-nut), Rose-wood, Deccania Pubescence and some of the local Acacia varieties. We find Soap-nut, Amla and Ebony along with five other species of Diospyros.

From the rocks sprout Ficus varieties, and higher up there are patches of Terminalias Paniculata and Tomentosa. In sheltered pockets of valleys and near the top, where it is cooler and there is more dew-fall, evergreens such as Cassine Glauca, Drypetes, Lepisanthes Tetraphilla, Memecylon and Pamburus (a type of wild orange) are more common, while on the most exposed and degraded slopes Sterculia, Givottia, Commiphora and even the endangered Hildegardia can be found.

AKSP Update

Arunachala Kattu Siva Plantation (AKSP) has taken responsibility for the denuded Reserve Forest on the lower slopes of the mountain. The thrust of the project is social ecology. Eighteen rural persons - almost all illiterate - are engaged in water conservation strategies, bunding and check dams, seed collection, nursery work and plantation, maintenance and protection of saplings on the slopes.

The primary objective of the Greening of Arunachala is the rejuvenation of the artesian system. However the Arunachala Kadu Siva Plantation has a wider social ecological import:

To undertake responsibility for solutions to civic needs

To participate in the making of decisions about these solutions

To utilize and regenerate indigenous knowledge

To communicate the meaning of this work with villages and in the wider community.

Vediyappan Shrine at Plantation -- click on photo to enlarge

"Archeologists report that since time immemorial the mysterious wilderness - conducive to asceticism, meditation and contemplation, has always been juxtaposed with the cultivated terrain of Thiruvannamalai town. The prognosis for the future of Thiruvannamalai is a city with a mountain in the middle; the urban spread that will accomplish this is flourishing mightily right before our eyes. Yet Arunachala provides sufficient area designated as wilderness to support a flourishing botanical variety and habitat for many species of wildlife. The forest essential to enable this wilderness to be healthy will naturally replenish and regenerate the water table and eventually change our seasonalweather patterns. Such a forest therefore will ensure that the cultivated terrain presented in opposition to the wild mountain becomes truly synonymous with prosperity as it potentially is since the only sound economics in any nation lie in co-operation with natural processes."

[Aruna Apeethagiri - AKSP]

To find out more about Arunachala Kattu Siva Plantation and different aspects of Arunachala Greening and about the indigenous community and ethos of the area, you can visit Aruna Apeethagiri's excellent website at this link.

Mountain of Medicine

I previously made a posting about the Mountain of Medicine, a reforestation programme at Arunachala which is located on the South Side of the Hill and near to Sri Ramana Maharshi Ashram. Anyhow, I revisited this reforestation programme a few weeks ago to see their progress, and was delighted to see great improvements.

To find out more about the name Mountain of Medicine, and Sri Ramana Maharshi's explanation of the herbal properties of Arunachala, please refer to this posting.

The Mountain of Medicine has a nice quiet, contemplative, seating area with this pretty water feature.

Below another water feature in the quiet section of the Mountain of Medicine.

A local artist is currently painting granite slabs, which will be placed at the sides of various walkways at the Mountain of Medicine. Most of the paintings are depictions of local water birds and indigenous animals.

The below looks like a kingfisher and at the back of the granite slab, you can identify packets of seedlings that will later be transferred to various spots on Arunachala Hill.

The below is a favourite of mine and depicts the very commonly found Bonnet Macaque monkey; one sees these mischievous monkeys on the Hill, off the pradakshina road and also in town. The Bonnet Macaque is highly intelligent and very adaptive, and can quickly acclimate to new situations. If you want to find out more about this adorable, roguish monkey check out: Bonnet Macaque and monkey games.





The below shows part of the Children's Park at the Mountain of Medicine, which was recently opened and which is quickly proving a BIG success with local kids.

Another shot of the Children's Park at the Mountain of Medicine.

Rows of seedlings and plants, some of which will be later transferred and planted on the Hill, the rest of the seedlings will be sold to visitors, for their own gardens or driveways.

One very interesting feature of the Mountain of Medicine is that the organisation has built a rocky lane starting from their compound, which leads directly to the inner pradakshina path around the Hill. Most pilgrims prefer performing circumbulation of Arunachala by going around the outer pathway because they enjoy visiting outlying Temples and the Asta Lingams, however the inner path is particularly peaceful and favoured by those that want to perform silent and undisturbed girivalam.

A view of Arunachala and the local countryside from a vantage point at the Mountain of Medicine.

The below is the view of Arunachala from the gateway leading to the Mountain of Medicine. In a few years the planted trees will have grown and the pathway will be a veritable leafy avenue of trees.





You may like to refer to an earlier posting on this Blog written by Govinda Bowley, the founder of the Mountain of Medicine, in which he talks about the current greening situation of Arunachala.