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Trees of Nanmangalam Forest (Kanchipuram - Tamil Nadu)

After Kalakshetra, its Nanmangalam Tree walk's time! Nanmangalam is another place, like Pallikaranai, that I literally cross everyday, but never managed to go in and explore. Just like how I explored Pallikaranai on Madras Day events 2 years back, this Madras Day I visited Nanmangalam. Nanmangalam is located pretty close to Pallikaranai and its a reserve forest.
The trees that were here same as Kalakshetra were Peepul Tree, Jamun Tree and Punnai Tree. Here's the other trees that were explained about, by Nizhal Team.
First was the Arjuna Tree. It generally grows in the river beds. So historically these tree were associated with civilization! That's why the tree is called Marudha Maram in Tamil, coz Marudham is the land of agriculture and civilization. The story in Krishna Leela (pranks of Infant Lord Krishna), that baby Krishna crawled with a mortar tied onto his waist and brought down 2 trees, which were Kubera's sons in curse, the trees were Arjuna Tree. It can grow as big as 70 ft and its believed that such huge trees, the flow of water in the stem can be heard. I really liked the shape of the seeds. They looked almost like the leaves, but were woody and resembled star fruit. 
Our next stop was at the Naagalinga Maram. Surprisingly its not an indigenous plant, coz in many Shiva temples, its the sthala vrukham. Its from Gayana. The flowers are medicinal. Very similar to Jack fruit, the fruits grow along the stem. They are spherical, big and heavy, thus gets a nickname Cannon Ball tree. 
Next we stopped at Madhuka Tree. In Tamil its called the Iluppai Tree. The flower of the tree is extremely sweet and ages ago, it was used as an alternative of sugar in certain areas. The tussar silk worm breeds and feeds on this tree. 
Myrobalan was our next stop. Its a plant pretty close to my heart! Reason - its a tannin for natural dyes! So? If you're a regular reader of my blog, you might be knowing that I'm professionally into Fashion, Khadi, Handloom, Natural dyes etc! In Tamil, its called Kadukkai or Thandrikkai. Its a part of the Triphala Medicine in Siddha medicine, which has capacity to even cure cancer. 
Next was Mahagony, which is again a source of Natural dyes! Its a timber tree and its the strongest after teak. Its a native of America.
Next was Palm. This palm was a native Indian Palm. The toddy of this is medicinal. In Tamil its called Koondhal Panai, coz, the dried leaves look like a lady's hair, and hair in Tamil is Koondhal. 
Next we stopped at Gooseberry. In Tamil, its called Nelli. The fruit is extremely bitter and is a very rich source of Vitamin C. This also has the capacity to make water sweeter. 
Our next stop was Badam which is called Naatu Vadhumai in Tamil.
Finally we stopped at Kumuzh Maram. Its also called Ven Thekku in Tamil. Its a timber tree. It has the whitest ash of them all!!! Its used in stone age for rock art paintings, for white color!!!

Bhushavali

An ardent traveler by passion. Being an ex - Art History Teacher, my area of interest especially lies in Nature and Heritage. Visited 85 UNESCO World Heritage sites as of June 2022. I've been listed among the Top 7 Women Travel Bloggers of India, Top 50 in UK. I have been interviewed in a couple of TV Shows, Radio Channels and Events as well. Read more about me and read the testimonials of different brands

16 comments:

  1. R Niranjan DasSeptember 19, 2013 at 8:00 PM

    Interesting trees. Nice post Bhusha!

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2013/09/bandipur-into-wild.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. ashokSeptember 19, 2013 at 9:23 PM

    very informative...thanks Busha

    ReplyDelete
  3. TeamgsquareSeptember 20, 2013 at 8:43 AM

    Nice to see these trees and their details. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Krishna/à´•ൃà´·്à´£September 25, 2013 at 11:39 PM

    interesting post with interesting things

    and nice information

    thanks bhushavali

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousSeptember 28, 2013 at 1:19 AM

    very nice post very informative too

    My blog here www.islandchic77.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. My Unfinished LifeOctober 2, 2013 at 1:56 PM

    interesting....i love nature walks so liked reading this post!



    http://www.myunfinishedlife.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousNovember 8, 2013 at 11:27 PM

    Hello Bhushavali! This is a great blog. We need more green warriors. You might like to read this article about a green activist in Coimbatore: http://www.theweekendleader.com/Heroism/1747/teacher-activist.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BhushavaliNovember 16, 2013 at 8:21 AM

      Thank you so much Weekend Leader! I'll check out the article! :)

      Delete
  8. UnknownDecember 23, 2013 at 6:40 PM

    Hi Bhushavali, I am a wild life photographer, I heard about this Nanmangalam forest but never had a chance to visit there though I am residing in Pallikaranai. I would like to visit there for bird photography. Yesterday I tried to find out the forest office but unable to locate it. It will be very helpful if you could provide me these info.
    whom to approach? any contact no. or name? what exactly the forest office located?
    thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BhushavaliFebruary 25, 2014 at 11:29 AM

      Hi Abdul,
      I do not know any ph no or contact person.
      But just drop in at the place. You'll see a small roadside Snake God temple to the left if ur going towards Velachery, a bit before Medavakkam kootroad.
      Just before that temple, is the Nanmangalam Forest range. You can't miss it. Its a huge gated area, with an arch saying 'vanaviyal thurai' in Tamil...
      The door is usually closed. Open it and get inside. A short walk inside (you can also take your bike or car, there's parking space inside) will lead you to the office.

      Delete

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