Kabirvad

Kabirvad is a banyan tree located on a small river island in Narmada river.[1] It is Bharuch district, Gujarat, India. The tree and place is associated with 15th century mystic-poet Kabir. There is a temple dedicated to Kabir. It is believed that the banyan tree was sprouted from Datoon (twig used as a toothbrush). The place is religious site as well as popular tourist spot.[2][3][4][5]

Kabirvad
SpeciesBanyan (Ficus benghalensis)
LocationKabirvad river island, Bharuch district, Gujarat, India
Coordinates21.7633869°N 73.140089°E / 21.7633869; 73.140089
CustodianForest Department, Government of Gujarat
Hodi Ghat, Kabirvad

Expansion

Nearchus, an admiral of Alexander the Great, described a large specimen on the banks of the Narmada River, possibly Kabirvad. The tree's canopy was so extensive it sheltered 7000 men. It was later described by James Forbes (1749–1819) in his Oriental Memoirs (1813–1815) as nearly 610 m (2,000 ft) in circumference with over 3000 trunks.[6] Currently the area of its canopy is 17,520 m2 (4.33 acres) with a perimeter of 641 m (2,103 ft).[7]

Conveyance

From Bharuch to Jhanor via Shuklatirth, there is a place known as Kabirmadhi. From here a boat ride brings people to the river island.[2]

Legend

There were two Brahmin brothers Jeeva and Tatva in the village named Shuklatirth near the Mangleshwar village in Bharuch district, Gujarat. Once, they were inspired to find a True Saint. So, to identify the true Saint, they planted a dried shoot of a banyan tree in their courtyard and thought that the Foot-nectar of whichever Saint would turn the dried shoot green, that would be the true Saint.[8][9][10] That shoot turned green only by the Foot-nectar of Kabir Sahib Ji.[11] That shoot has developed into Kabirvad today.

References
  1. "Tale of Jeeva and Datta (Tatva) | Kabir". kabirsahib.jagatgururampalji.org. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  2. Bar-Ness, Yoav Deniel (January 2010). "The Kabir Tree" (PDF). Outlook Traveller. pp. 118–121. Archived from the original on 14 December 2016.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. "Kabirvad". Gujarat Tourism. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  4. Network, Divyabhaskar (6 April 2015). "Amazing: नर्मदा नदी के टापू पर 3 किमी तक फैला है यह बरगद का पेड़". dainikbhaskar (in Hindi). Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  5. "Crocodile fear hits footfall in Bharuch tourist spot". The Indian Express. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  6. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fig" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  7. Bar-Ness, YD (June 2010). "The World's Largest Trees? Cataloguing India's Giant Banyans" (PDF). Outreach Ecology. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 January 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2018.
  8. Lorenzen, David N. (2006). Who Invented Hinduism: Essays on Religion in History. Yoda Press. ISBN 978-81-902272-6-1.
  9. Not Available (1909). Journal Of The Royal Asiatic Society (1908) Vol.23.
  10. Forbes, James (1834). Oriental Memoirs Vol.1.
  11. Lorenzen, Professor Centre of Asian and African Studies David N.; Lorenzen, David N.; Ananta-das; Vai??ava, Anantad?sa (1 January 1991). Kabir Legends and Ananta-Das's Kabir Parachai. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-0461-4.


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