AvadhootaDatta Peetham

These days, trees are cut down everywhere to make place for roads and buildings. We can show our children certain species of trees only in pictures or videos. Many trees have become rare. They are not available for viewing in nature. There are some trees that survive for one or two thousand years. Replicas of such trees are the bonsai trees. Since Rama's times we have had bonsai trees in our country. Kishkindha Moolika Vana, then called Madhuvana (as per Srimad Valmiki Ramayana), was safeguarded by Dadhimukha, the uncle of Sugreeva, the monkey King. When news was received that Sita was found, Sugreeva, Angada and other Vanaras, in their uncontrolled jubilation, destroyed the bonsai garden of Dadhimukha, which had numerous short fruit trees snuggled in between two hills in a cramped space.

 

Sri Swamiji had an experience in childhood. His father Narasimha Sastry prepared rat poison and smeared it with honey. The child Satyanarayana swallowed not one, but nine of those pellets. He turned blue like Neelakantha Shiva (Shiva who swallowed poison) and was throwing up. Father was a physician. He sent a man to the forest to bring a leaf from a tree. The juice of the leaf was administered to the child and his life was saved. After this incident, father threw away all his medicines and gave up practicing medicine.

Once, when he was a little older, Sri Swamiji asked his father why he gave up the practice of medicine. Father narrated this episode and informed about kubja (midget) trees. He used to grow them in small pots for medicinal purposes. Sri Swamiji was fascinated by the idea. When he was about 30 years old, his interest in growing bonsai trees was rekindled.

 

It is not true that Bonsai originated in China. India has had this tradition since Treta Yuga. The practice originated here and was carried to China where the technique was further developed. The original implements for creating Bonsai were from India.

 

The year Sri Swamiji was born, mother Sri Jayalakshmi Mata planted a tree in the Sangameswara Siva temple precincts in Mekedatu. It got all twisted because it was entwined by snakes, the Naga devatas. During the recent renovation of the temple a few years ago, some devotees spotted this tree and brought it here and placed it in the Bonsai garden. You may see that tree now in the bonsai garden here. Every tree in the Bonsai Garden has a history behind it.

 

Forests have to be protected. Forest fires are destroying trees. Without trees, we will have no rains. Without trees, we have no medicines. From moonlight, the trees absorb medicinal qualities. Trees provide us medicines. Mrita Sanjeevini (the herb that revives the dead) is also a Bonsai tree. Trees are mentioned in our Puranas in great detail along with their significance. Sri Swamiji goes to each tree and listens to its raga or the sounds it makes. A tree can predict an earthquake. A tree changes its color when some natural disturbance is about to occur. Birds quiver in fright and warn us of impending calamities. Swamiji brought many trees from different countries. Early in the morning when you go near a tree and stand, you will experience a magnetic attraction with the tree. Our bad vibrations dissolve. The weakness in our bones goes away.

 

Under a Banyan, or Aswattha tree one gets spiritually awakened. Mother Goddess resides in the Neem tree. From Calcutta, Sri Swamiji got a Bonsai Neem tree. In the Aswattha tree resides Lord Vishnu. In the Audumbara tree, Datta Swami resides. Our Puranas narrate innumerable stories pertaining to trees. You get attracted to trees if you go stand near them and look at them. Each tree is an angel to a specific person. It can reveal your future and the history of your ancestors whom it would have seen. Trees have great information, talent, and power in them. Sri Swamiji also has authored a book on how to grow a Bonsai in each home where no soil is seen, how different species of trees can be grown etc.

 

 

 

Sri Swamiji organizes Bonsai Conventions to bring together Bonsai enthusiasts, professional tree experts, and hobbyists from different countries to exchange and share their expertise, their love for the art, and their commitment for preservation of Nature.