Dr. Avnish Jolly, Chandigarh, 7th October, 2008 : 2. SECTOR 38-THE JAMUAS OF GURU GORAKH NATH TEMPLE;In sector 38-B near to the record room building of Punjab and adjacent to the PWD open store exists a green space dotted with 100 or more trees and in the center of which is this Temple. The Temple occupies ~ 5 kanals area. A dhuni of Shri Gorakh Nathji is lighted continuously for 25 years.
As per the present priest-Mahant Thikar Nath ji, the place came into existence in 1836 in the village of SHAHPUR. It was developed by Shyam Singh who built a grove of mangoes, Jamuas and Jamun trees. Many of the existing trees were planted around the year 1900. Thus there are now 11 mango, 7 jamua and one jamun of that period. The rest of the approx. 50 trees are 30 to 40 years old. The old jamua and mango trees are 2 to 2.5 ft. in thickness and do give an old look. They have a scaly dark bark and trees have number of hollows in them. The place is under the “ Abdoot Bharatvarsh Jogi Mahasabha” headquartered in Haridwar and the present caretaker is their appointee. Functions are held at Mahashivratri and Navratras.
HUGE MANGO OF SECTOR 38 :
Near the entry to GHS 38, (opposite # 1554) stands a huge mango tree of dia 4.5 ft. and a canopy of 25 m. The tree is in an open space alongside a sector road. According to Sardar Tara Singh of Shahpur Gurdwara, the TREE IS NO LESS THAN 150 YRS OF AGE and was planted by a resident of the Shahpur village, which once inhabited the area of Sector 38.
THE BARGAD OF HISTORIC GURDWARA SHAHPUR, SECTOR 38-A;
The homes and land of village SHAHPUR existed in what is now the sector 38. The historic gurdwara and village KHEDA existed here since the inception of the village SOME 350 YEARS BACK. The same were upgraded in 1946. The committee members recount the details of the place.
In the gurdwara complex in a corner alongside the Kheda is one of the oldest and widest BARGAD Trees of the city. The holy BARGAD & PEEPAL duo have a combined width of 8 feet. S. Tara Singh recounts that here was a well existing from the times of the Sikh Gurus and these trees are from that era. A marbled Chauntra is built around the tree which has on one side a building and other is open space. The canopy is now small due to age.
Another bargad of same age stands at the North end of the gurdwara. It has a width of 4 feet and is planted in an open space in the complex but which is mostly a cemented floor. Near the langar hall stands a 3 feet dia MANGO which was planted about a hundred years ago.
THE TREES OF PANJAB UNIVERSITY CAMPUS, VILLAGE KANJI MAJRA
The present campus of Punjab University falls in the land of village Shehzadpura and Kanji Majra. There are numerous mango and peepal trees here.
A fabulous PEEPAL tree stands guard just outside House No. G-10 of P.U. staff colony. The tree is a good 7 feet wide, in open space. The tree has a defoliated old look, many huge branches on one side have dried out and the bark has turned dark. The estimated age is 150 years