The Banyan does not come to life in a fairy tale. A fruit-eating bird might one day drop a seed on an elevated spot of an appropriate tree. Starting as a parasite (an epiphyte) is not an auspicious birth. The following years are creepy as the young plant disserves his common name “strangler fig”. Dropping a strong system of aerial roots, he will hug, envelop and finally integrate his dyeing host.
Then the new tree, a majestic banyan, begins his horizontal colonisation. From his big branches, roots are reaching toward the ground, growing into new trunks. This amazing ability allows him to spread over sizeable areas, sculpting a landscape of natural cathedrals.
The banyan originates fro India and Sri Lanka where he is worshiped by Hindus but he is also respected by Buddhists (like in Thailand) or seen as home of spirits in the Philippines.
Without value as timber and with fruits only eaten by insects, birds and bats, the banyan has nevertheless an important role to play in the ecosystem. Humans are (still) respecting him as a big tree, as they are amazed by his tortuous architecture and enjoy the possibility to rest under his wide canopy.
Banyan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan references see French text
