Traditions embedded in Devasthanas enabled and inspired the Bhaktas to fulfil all the pancha maha yagna’s.

There is a deep connect between the devasthanams, nandanavanas & sthala vrksas. Sadly, today very few temples have sthala vrksas and hardly any have nandanavanams, the sacred groves of both trees and gardens that would have nurtured flowers required by the temple.

The temples also owned large parcels of land in which the temple gave permission to farmers to cultivate grains and other crops. The farmers would give a portion of the yield to the temple while the farmer enjoyed the benefits from the sale of the rest.

The sthala vrksas were not necessarily the trees associated with the specific deity of the temple but one that was important and often more local to the area in which the temple was situated. If ever the vrksa perished it would be replaced with a new sapling of the same species. These vrksas are venerated as living deities true to the principles of Sanatana Darma that  gives us the understanding of the omnipresence of Iswara.

The sthala vrksa of Ekambareswarar in Kanchi, one of the pancha Bhoota sthalas dedicated to Prithvi, is a mango tree that is said to be almost 3000 years or more and still yields fruit. Though it is a temple dedicated to Lord Shiva, who is associated to the Bilwa tree the sthala vrksa here is a mango tree.

It is said that Periya Azhwar, found Goda Devi (Andal) in the nandanavanam, his service to the temple was to weave exquisite garlands for the temple with flowers he lovingly picked from the Nandanavanam.

The place in Uttar Pradesh called Naimisharanya was a forest which was the abode of many ancient seers. Most Rishis resided in forests in synch with nature, and the revelations of many a philosophical text happened in the lap of Mother nature, in the silence of the forests where ancient trees seemed to communicate with them.

Vrksaka Vinyasa the plant exhibition of Gudiya Sambhrama 2025 showcased a thematic exhibition of 25 plants, that included sthala vrksas and in some cases plants connected to the deity. It included the pancha bhoota sthalas, temples connected to the pancaksara of Siva “Namah Sivaya,” the ashtaksara of Lord Vishnu the Swayam Vykta sthalas and the navaksari of the Devi and her temples.

Details of these vrksas are in the PPT. Since we had called the plant exhibition Vrksaka Vinayasa Dr Shanka Rajaraman the expert poet smilingly said why not a Vrksa Kavi Nyasa, and so we had a wonderful Kavi Sammelana that included 5  Sanskrit and 5 Kannada poets with Dr Shankar Rajaraman as the moderator.

We share in the following posts those wonderful poems of these most creative poets who brought the connection between Devasthanam, vrksas, aksharas and devatas seamlessly.