Grotesque Ippe

At a sacred grove beneath the granite peak of Shivganga, this is the most diseased and deformed of many ancient and bizarre Ippe trees

Vivekenanda Mimusops

Near a small museum recording the international Hindu outreach of Swami Vivekananda, this tree offers shade to people queuing for the small hospital there

Sanchi Torani Ravrani

At the famous Sanchi stupa, I wondered at the complicated, familiar looking Ravirani tree with such a strange name. After a while I realized I was misreading the Devnagri writing for Khirni.

Mehrauli Survivors

Possibly Delhi’s oldest trees, the twisted and ancient khirni’s south of Qtub Minar abide amongst the picnic tables and gardens of Mehrauli Archeological Park; this largest one is rotten through but still growing well.

Chiragh Delhi Khirni

At the tomb of the Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Nasiruddin Mahmood ‘Chiragh Delhi’, this old khirni tree amidst the white marble and green tapestries of the mosque is said to be planted ‘by his own hands’ before his death in 1356 AD (755 after Hijra).