Kesharwani family in Jabalpur, India, had a decision to make back in 1994 when the family was thinking of expanding its home. The decision was about the huge fig tree that was growing in the garden of the family. Does the family cut it down or incorporate it into its home? Kesharwani family decided to build the four-story house around it!
About two and a half decades later, the house of Kesharwani family is among the most stunning sights in Jabalpur. You get to witness a concrete a home that has a giant tree trunk making its way through its stories and thick branches protruding from the windows, walls, and roof. Yogesh Kesharwani says that the tree is about 150 years old but still blossoms into leaves and fruits every year.
Yogesh Kesharwani said, ‘We are nature lovers, and my father insisted that we keep the tree. We knew it was easy to cut the tree but difficult to grow one like it.’ The fig tree is known as ‘peepal’ in Hindi and is considered sacred. In fact, cutting one down is considered to be sacrilegious. The tree has been mentioned in the Geeta – a Hindu religious text – and according to Hindus, about 350 million gods and goddesses live in a single fig tree.
The Kesharwani family says that not only does the tree keep the house cool but it also offers practical advantages in religious terms as well. Yogesh’s wife doesn’t have to go to the temple to pray; instead, she gets to do it right from her home every morning. Yogesh says that once the house was complete, local engineering and architecture students would regularly come to see how it was built. Yogesh said, ‘We don’t even realize that the tree exists because it doesn’t come in our way. It just stands there silently.’
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