World's largest Chinar tree in Kashmir

JAMMU: Kashmir houses the world's largest and oldest Chinar tree which is 700-years-old, claims a book a book written by renowned nature writer MS Wadoo.

The book, The Trees of Our Heritage, deals with the research work done in the fields of forestry, plantation and environment, especially trees like Chinar and Devdar.

"The tree is located located at Chattergram in Budgam district of Kashmir", said the book.

In his research work, Wadoo identified the tree at the garden of Sufi Saint Syed Qasim Shah in Chattergam.

"The circumference of the tree is 31.85 metres and its height is 14.78 metres," he said. The tree, he added, had replaced the previous largest one at Bijbehara, which was 19.70 metres wide and 13.30 metres tall.

Author of ten books on forestry and plants, Wadoo travelled extensively in the entire temperate zone of the state and assessed numerous Chinars before establishing the largest one.

The tree was planted in 1374 by Syed Qasim Sahib who accompanied Mir Syed Ali Hamadani from Hamadan, Iran, to Kashmir, he said.

Originally, the Chinar tree was found only in Greece. With the passage of time, however, it reached Asia where the most conducive place for it to grow was the western Himalayan region of India, Wadoo says in the book.

In Jammu and Kashmir, its growth range is between 50 and 200 metres rpt 50 and 200 metres , he adds.

Dismissing the notion that Chinar trees were brought into the state by the Mughals, Wadoo said there were several mentions in the historical accounts about the tree's existence in the state.

Akbar Nama, Mughal emperor Akbar's memoir, mentions one such instance when the thirty four royal guards took shelter inside the trunk of a Chinar tree.

Wadoo supports this statement by the fact that poet Irfan of Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani Lal Ded, who lived in the valley much before the Mughals annexed it, in her poems referred to the tree as a noble and faithful wife.