Why in news?

The legendary Kannimara teak of the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve is still growing in height and girth.

Highlights:

• Over the last five years, the centuries-old teak has grown by 1.85 metres in height and 9 cm in girth, sending promising signals of hope for one of the largest and oldest teak tree in the world.
• The teak was measured as part of the ongoing Vanamahotsavam.
• When the tree was measured last in 2017, it recorded a height of 39.98 metres and a girth of 7.15 metres at breast height. The latest measurement showed that the Kannimara had touched 41.83 metres in height and 7.24 metres in girth at breast height (GBH).

How was it done?

• The height was measured using a digital clinometre, a simple device used to measure angles. We used tape and a rangefinder.
• The girth was measured at breast height, that is 1.37 metres above ground level. Using the available scientific methods, the KFRI team will soon date the teak.
• The initial calculation considering the GBH shows that it is 500 years old.

About the parambikulam tree

• Worshipped by the tribes people of Parambikulam, the Kannimara teak remains a flagship of the tiger reserve offering a spectacular view to visitors.
• For the tribes people of Parambikulam, it is still a ‘virgin tree’. That was why they named it Kannimara (meaning virgin tree).
• The tribal legend has it that the tree had bled when people tried to cut it. So they protected it and started worshipping the tree by offering annual pujas.

• The Kannimara tree had won the Union government’s Mahavriksha Puraskar in its first year of introduction in 1994. The award brought more attention to the tree and its glory spread further with people from different parts of the globe taking a pilgrimage to pay their admiration to it.