By Kulavati Krishnapriya Devi Dasi
The jackfruit tree under which Srila Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON was born on 1st September 1896, is now withering and needs attention. It is situated at Srila Prabhupada’s birthplace in Kolkata, which was opened in 2021. A memorial is being built here and the preservation of the tree is a part of this project.
“It seems like the whole life of the jackfruit tree was for Srila Prabhupada. The tree was completely green after celebrating the inauguration of Srila Prabhupada’s birthplace in 2021. But gradually, it started leaving its body,” said Radharaman Das, the Vice President of ISKCON Kolkata.
Due to the tree’s present condition, Radharaman consulted an expert devotee from Pune who removed the soil from around the tree and found that the whole tree was hollow from the inside. Srila Prabhupada had expressed his desire that a memorial should be built on his birthplace. It has been decided that the tree will be removed and preserved in the memorial.
Radharaman Das said, “We will remove the whole tree and transfer it to the memorial. There, if we cover the tree and keep then it will survive for the next 10,000 years provided it gets yearly maintenance and is kept covered in a glass with proper chemicals meant for preservation.”
To ensure that Srila Prabhupada’s legacy endures through the ages, an endeavor is being made to both save the tree and immortalize its essence in the form of a bronze replica.
Read more: https://iskconnews.org/preserving-the-jackfruit-tree-from-prabhupadas-birthplace-in-new-memorial/
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