Rare Tree blooms after 17 years, Balagarh college celebrates
The Statesman | 15 June 2025
The National Service Scheme (NSS) unit of Balagarh Bijoy Krishna Mahavidyalaya has been planting rare species of trees on its campus since its inception. In 2007, professor Dilip Kumar Chatterjee, programme officer of the NSS, planted a sapling of the rare tree known as Uday Padma.
Scientifically named Magnolia grandiflora, this tree has a special association with Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, as it once adorned the poet’s residence in Santiniketan. Tagore, the Nobel laureate and visionary philosopher, had a profound love for nature. He was known for planting trees on his birthdays and deeply believed in harmonising education with nature—an ethos still preserved at Santiniketan today. The tree, resembling a rubber plant and native to the southern regions of the United States, is considered rare in tropical Asia.
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Magnolia grandiflora is also valued for its medicinal properties. Various parts of the tree are used as traditional remedies for ailments such as asthma, dysentery, jaundice, and even to improve eyesight.
Now, after a long wait of seventeen years, the tree has finally bloomed, a moment of immense joy and excitement for the NSS volunteers. To mark the occasion, they chose the final day of their ten-day Environment Day programme for a celebration dedicated to this natural wonder. The first blossoms were likened to the birth of a child, and rituals were performed to symbolically welcome the ‘newborn’.
Sandalwood paste and vermilion were applied to the tree in reverence. College principal Dr Pratap Banerjee watered the tree as part of the ceremony. Volunteers tied rakhis to the tree while singing Rabindra Sangeet, and an identification card was also placed on the tree.
In a touching gesture, a birthday cake was cut and distributed among all present. The blooming was seen as a rebirth for the tree, and a pledge was taken by the volunteers to plant and protect more rare species in the future.