Nallur tamarind grove

Not many people are aware that India’s first biodiversity site is on the outskirts of Bengaluru. The Nallur Tamarind grove, a 54-acre houses more than 300 tamarind trees. It dates back to Chola period, and some trees are said to be planted by the great Chola king Rajendra Chola. But those trees would have died as the carbon dating puts the oldest tree to 410 years.

I came to know about this place from Arun’s blog, and it did not take me a long time to plan a trip. I combined it with a few other places near Chikballapur. Reaching this place was easy. From Devanahalli, we took the route to Hoskote. After a few km was the deviation to Nallur. The arch at this deviation mentioned about Nellur fort and grove.

At Nallur tamarind grove

Within a few minutes, we entered the grove. The winding road passed through the patch of greenery on both sides. Soon, we saw a temple on the right and parked our car. The temple looked new, and we had no interest in it. We started walking into the grove.

The weather was pleasant, and it was a nice place to walk around. We could see tamarind trees everywhere. We located a ruin inside the forest. Apparently, it is the only remaining structure of the old Nallur fort built during Chola times.

The ruins had some nice and simple carvings on the wall. We saw a broken statue inside the structure. Overall, this place looked like an enigma.

The neglect

If you drive along this tamarind grove, you will have a feel-good factor. A closer look will show you that the place is grossly neglected. It is a pity that drunkards visit this place more than the responsible citizens. The alcohol bottles and packs show the menace caused by these people. We saw cattle and sheep grazing in this area as there was no fence. People visiting the temple used this as a picnic spot and threw garbage, which is a hallmark of religious tourism in India.

Biodiversity heritage sites

Are you interested in understanding more about Biodiversity heritage sites in India? Refer to the Wikipedia website.