218- ONE Tree, a photo from Tamil Nadu, South

Photographer's Note

The Indian Banyan or Ficus Benghalensis is a sacred tree and the national tree of India. It's a fig tree and its fruit are dependent on fig wasps for reproduction.
Aerial prop roots grow vertically and downwards from the branches and become thick woody trunks.
Thus, the Ficus Benghalensis can grow into a giant tree covering up to 2 hectares.
The Indians say it's symbolic of the Indian family : Children grow, root themselves and become the support of their parents.

The name comes from India where early travellers observed that the shade of the tree was frequented by BANIAS or Indian traders. In the Gujarati language, "bania" means "grocer/merchant", not "tree". As early as the 17th century, the English began to talk about the Banyan tree, the tree under which Hindu merchants would conduct their business.

The Banyan Tree of Auroville is over 100 yrs old and has great spiritual significance to the community. When Mira Alfassa, the "Mother" decided to start this universal city in 1968, all the land that is green and forested today, was a desert at the time, except for this one banyan tree.
They discovered there an old Indian woman who lived under the tree and had been protecting it for years from firewood-seeking villagers.
This woman said that God wanted her to protect this tree, because something great was going to happen in this place.

On the picture, the man in white is drawing energy from the tree.

1WS showing the temple of Auroville, the matrimandir, and telling you more about the place.
In fact, THE Banyan of Auroville is not this one, but the one next to the Martrimandir. See WS2.

ikeharel, papagolf21, Miguel82, PaulVDV, clic, mcmtanyel, Vasa, adramad, nikkitta, Angshu, s_lush, jhm, Cricri, josepmarin, LuisGustavoLima ha puntuado esta nota como útil.

Critiques | Translate

danos (110407) 2013-10-14 1:28

Good morning Marie-Louise,
welcome to the site after your absence with this beautiful scenery.Really the Indian banyan tree is very old as high too,with the spreading of its branches to cover all this area.The man that drawing energy from the tree is a good documentary snapshot too.

Have a good week,Danos

carlo62 (81265) 2013-10-14 2:27

Bonjour MarieLouise
bellissimo gioco di luci e ombre, un luogo originale e interessante.
Hai fatto un ottimo lavoro che ci permette di vedere al meglio queste bellezze.
Buona giornata
Carlo

papagolf21 (152607) 2013-10-14 3:05

Bonjour, chère Marie-Louise,
Très belle mise en image de ces arbres aux branches semblables à des bras déployés semblant implorer le ciel.
Le personnage dynamise la composition.
Très bel effet d'ombre et de lumière.
Amitiés.
Philippe

ikeharel (114477) 2013-10-14 5:59

Bonjour MarieLouise,
Well managed the variable light under the shade of the trees.
Not an easy task, yet came out as a beautiful scene.
The WS by itself worth a post as main subject, never saw this pic. on TE before.
Au revoir,
Ike

lousat (139914) 2013-10-14 14:02

Hi ML.I seen something of similar in Brazil,a very very big tree,not easy to take and to choice the best point of view to give an idea of its dimensions,a great capture whit a perfect exposure of the different light levels,fine details too.I like the temple in WS,very interesting and in an another excellent pic.Have a nice day and thanks,Luciano

PaulVDV (63440) 2013-10-15 18:18

Hello Marie-Louise,
A very curious temple in the workshop!
I heard of Auroville but had never seen a picture of it.
The Banyan Tree on the main picture certainly provides a lot of welcome shade. It looks almost like a small forest composed by one tree.
Best regards, Paul

IBAlex (0) 2013-10-17 17:13

Great picture! This is a test.

jacquest (19269) 2013-10-18 3:58

Bonjour Marie-Louise,

Merci de m'instruire par ta note en plus de cette image avec cette belle luminosité diffuse qui donne un beau jeu d'ombre. L'effet tentaculaire de l'arbre est bien réussi et l'homme ajoute de la vie, sinon de l'énergie dans la composition.

Meilleures salutations

Jacques

Sergiom (117241) 2013-10-18 5:22

Bonjour Marie Louise,

Il a pris des formes vraiment torturées et spectaculaires cet arbre. On dirait que les branches entrent sous terre pour mieux ressortir et passer aussi pour un arbre indépendant du premier. Phénomène vraiment spectaculaire.

Amicalement

Serge

clic (76) 2013-10-18 9:31

Bonjour Marie Louise
J'ai lu qu'un arbre a autant de racines que de branches; dans ce cas-ci ce doit-être la pagaille sous terre pour un peu d'humidité en sol aride!
Le personnage, d'une caresse dans le dos, semble plutôt consoler la tentacule de cette disette!
Amicalement.
Robert

mcmtanyel (69101) 2013-10-19 20:23

Hello Marie Louise,
This is a fascinating tree, a single tree looks like a whole forest. Your vantage point does justice to the immensity of this old tree. Good light management in difficult light.
Regards,
MT

pyffepa (625) 2013-10-20 7:52

Bonjour Marie-Louise,

Une photo bien agréable à regarder, un havre de douceur sous un climat qui être chaud.
La structure des ces arbres est tout à fait étonnante et la photo en fait un bon rendu.

Bon dimanche,
Patrick

fabbs99 (17179) 2013-10-22 10:30

Hello Marie-Louise,

Excellent shot of this old Banyan tree.The props of this tree always attract attention and here too it is doing the same thing.The sacredness of the Banyan tree is well-known in India as elaborated by you in the notes.Nice perspective and very well captured.TFS.

Best Regards,
Farhat

Vasa (515) 2013-10-25 2:17

On plonge dans le jeu des branches dans ce coin exotique. Un coin que tu reverras de temps en temps grace a ce cliche et renouvellera tes souvenirs de ce voyage emouvant, chere Marie Louise.

PS. Grand merci de ton effort pour m'expliquer la nouvelle situation sur TE. Je n'ai jamais aime les changements sur ce cite (question de design, la facilite de communication) et j'ai ete blesse par le traitement des photographes. Pourtant je ne coupe pas definitivement car j'aime te revoir et les revoir.

A la prochaine, chere amie.

Branko

adramad (73410) 2013-11-04 10:23

Bonjour Marie-Louise.
Sensational cette composition, d'une part quelques spécimens d'arbres splendides, plus les branches afin beauté tordue obtenir une image énorme, toutes les ombres projetées sur le sol obtiennent un graphisme agréable.
Très bien équilibré éclairage et une très bonne netteté.
Bien fait. Je l'aime.
Profitez d'une belle journée.
Meilleurs vœux.
Luis.

eldancer1 (36343) 2013-11-09 9:25

Those banyan trees are amazing, there's one at Balboa Park in San Diego it is massive! Nice capture and I'm glad you included the person for scale. Good lighting and nice details. Well done, tfs.

Most of my photos of birds were from the Bird Viewing Preserve in Henderson, about 10 miles east of Las Vegas.

pierrefonds (115436) 2013-11-12 5:11

Bonjour Marie-Louise,

L'étendue de l'endroit donne de la profondeur à la composition. La prise de vue permet de voir les détails et les couleurs des arbres. La bonne luminosité rehausse les couleurs de l'image. Bonne journée.

Pierre

Nicou (193814) 2013-11-14 5:20

Hello

quelle forme ces arbres sueprbe quelle branche cela fait comme un tonelle de branches aux belles formes et le personnage donne l'échelle et la grandeur.
Bravo et amitié
Nicou

thebest (4276) 2013-11-15 21:49

Hi MarieLouise,

I love images of trees - there are many unusual tree shapes around the World - we saw quite a few in Argentina - The Banyan tree is very famous - I like very much the play of shadows & the colours of this photo.

I hope you are enjoying the weekend.
Kindest regards,
Dawn.

abmdsudi (95869) 2013-11-19 8:44

Hi MarieLouise
Your descriptions are always so informative; Great composition, with the tree family covering most of the sky, they are hugh easily can survive for more than one hundred years and revered for medicinal value and the amount of oxygen they generate. What strikes me here is the lush green in term of the canopy, play of light and shadows. As always presence of human touch is vital. Great capture and tx for sharing, Congrats
Best regards

Silvio1953 (222779) 2013-11-19 9:11

Ciao Maria Luisa, i grandi alberi sono uno dei miei amori e questo è fantastico con il possente tronco centrale e le tante radici aeree che scendono a colonna a formare una sorta di magica foresta, ottima nitidezza e splendidi colori, favoloso il tempio dorato nel WS, bravissima, ciao Silvio

nikkitta (17070) 2013-11-22 15:39

Hola Maria L
Te escribo en español, asi lo practicas y yo descanso del ingles y frances

Estos ficus inmenson los hay iguales en argentina, con sus ramas apoyadas en vigas para sostener su peso, aca son las mismas ramas llas que buscan apoyo?

Lindisima escena con el hombre en busca de energia
Bien manejada la luz y sus contrastes

Un saludo desde Buenos Aires y comparto tu idea del sentido estetico oriental
Maria

Te agrego a mis favoritos para no perderte de vista

Angshu (56760) 2013-11-24 7:57

Good evening Marie-Louise
I like the mottled light falling through the foliage, creating a dramatic effect. Light was harsh but you managed to handle the exposure well. This is a TE shot in the true spirit with the documentation of the ritual the man is performing...
Best Regards
Angshu

s_lush (16602) 2013-11-25 3:30

Hello Marie-Louise,
A tree of this species is a real wonder of the nature. You have presented it with well-composed and high-quality picture, and commented it very informatively in the note. A highly good photographic result of your travel to India!
Best regards,
Sergiy

pajaran (116947) 2013-11-28 23:42

Dobar dan.
Interesantan i dobar tekst, sa opisom mesta ...
Dobar trenutak snimka, perspektiva i kontrast, lepe boje.
Dobar rad, lepo pokazano mesto sa starim i velikim drvecem.
Lepo mesto za odmor u hladu drveta.
Imajte lep i uspesan dan, sve najbolje za vikend, srecno.
Paja.

Good afternoon.
An interesting and good text with a description of ...
A good moment shot, perspective and contrast, beautiful colors.
Good work, nice place shown with old and large trees.
Nice place to rest in the shade of a tree.
Have a nice and successful day, all the best for the weekend, good luck.
Paja.

jhm (211738) 2013-12-04 3:27

Hello Marie-Louise,

This are all specially trees, these trees are not to find in Belgium, alone in warm countries as India.
Excellent presentation, through the shades on the ground, this cares for a excellent picture.
Very well presentation, nice done, TFS.

Best regards,
John.

Cricri (176) 2013-12-04 10:31

Bonjour Marie Louise
Spectaculaire ce vieil arbre aux branches extra longues, c'est joli, c'est comme un toit naturel, beau jeu ombre sur le sol, belle présentation
Belle soirée
cricri

Fis2 (171823) 2013-12-08 13:38

Witajcie MariaLouise!
A very curious tree!
Good POV and composition.
I like light and shadows.
Well done.
Have a nice new week.
Krzysztof

Disabled_A (0) 2013-12-29 12:14

Bonjour Marie-Louise,

what a wonderful view! Such unusual trees!
this combination of light and shadows create an elevated mood :) Excellent POV and composition. The people in the background help us see the real size of the trees and add some nice touch of life :)
a little bit this reminds me of cherry-tree alleys in Kungsträdgården in Stockholm!

Bonne année et bonne santé ! :))
warmest wishes from Stockholm,
Elena

josepmarin (59385) 2014-01-08 2:33

Bonjour à nouveau, chère Marie-Louise,
ce ficus géant est impressionnant, on peut apprécier ses énormes dimensions en le comparant avec l'homme à son côté, intelligemment inclus dans ta composition.
J'aime bien le joli jeu lumière et ombres sur le sol parmi les arbres, ainsi que les couleurs naturelles.
Un beau travail.
Bien amicalement,
Josep

mauro61 (53429) 2017-03-27 1:39

Ciao Marie Louise,
mi pice l'intreccio dei tronchi con la luce che filtra tra i rami.
Un caro saluto
Maurizio

LuisGustavoLima (5184) 2017-08-03 16:40

Olá, Marie Louise!

Foto interessante!
Gostei das cores e de como a luz entra entre a árvore! Curioso essa árvore ocupar 2 hectares, realmente ela é muito grande! Boas cores e luz!
Bom trabalho!