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How It Originated
How Vana Mahotsava has grown since June 1950, when it became a part of me! I was then on my way to Bombay and writing my first official speech as a Central Minister. All of a sudden, trees were before me: the trees of which the Vedic rishis sang: "May the gods, the waters, plants and the forest trees accept our prayers."

  • The trees of Naimisharanya under the shade of which our culture was born.
  • The trees which gave to those who planted them the religious merit of having ten sons for each tree.
  • The trees which Shakuntala watered daily before she took her food; trees, the new shoots of which she would not pluck lest their feelings should be hurt.
  • The Vat tree which millions of women have worshipped through the ages to get the blessings of Savitri: an excellent husband, a death before he dies, and children and grandchildren.
  • The trees and groves of Vrindavana and Nandavana.
  • Then there is Kalpa-Vriksha, the wishing tree, our symbol of plenty;
  • The Devadaru tree, which, when it was injured, Lord Shiva adopted as a son, and whom Parvati herself nursed;
  • The Bel tree, sacred to Shiva;
  • The Akshayavat, from which the sinner can jump to salvation;
  • The Bodhi tree, which threw its peaceful shade over Lord Buddha when he attained Enlightenment;
  • The Peepul, daily worshipped by millions as the embodiment of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva;
  • The Parijataka and Tulsi, so cherished by Shri Krishna and worshipped in numberless homes.

His words from the Gita came to me: "Among the trees, I am Aswaththa."
And I wrote the appeal to the country to observe the Vana Mahotsava.

Source: Kulapati's Letters

Let’s Celebrate… Celebrate it at every School - both Bhavan and Non-Bhavan Schools – Let them all be together.

Make it a National Event… A big event… A memorable one…

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Listen to the wisdom of the sages, who knew more about the value of trees than the self-styled wise modern. The Arab proverb says that everyone in his life should have a son, plant a tree and dig a well.
The Puranas go one better-
"Dasha kupo samo vapi,
dasha vapi samo hridah;
Dashahrit samo putrah,
dasha putra samo taruh."
The man who constructs a step well earns the religious merit of getting ten wells dug. He who constructs a lake obtains the merit of constructing ten step wells. A man who has a son, gets the merit of constructing ten lakes. But plant a tree and the merit you receive is the same as having ten sons.

Let us realize before it is too late
that the climate, the trees, the land, and those who live on it, form a single inseparable collective organism. If you destroy the trees, you may grow more food, but for a time only, and then you lose both food and trees. Nothing but a desert is left on your hands.