Old story — 1
Devdar…..
As we(me and my German shepherd) walk through this old and abandoned road. The surroundings start transitioning from a somewhat modernized Himalayan village to an enchanting “devdar/deodar” forest. Beautiful, mighty trees touching the sky!
Deodar Cedar, also know as Cedrus Deodara. Belongs to the family of “ true cedars”. These are the large evergreen coniferous trees. Native to Himalayan regions of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal.
“Deodar” or “ Devdar”, name is derived from Sanskrit language, meaning“timber of Gods”. It is the state tree of Himachal Pradesh (India) and the national tree of Pakistan.
Picture by The Wanderer
Deodar pillars of the Shah—e—Hamdan Mosque of Kashmir are about four centuries old. The Hindu temples of Himachal Pradesh have been built with deodar wood lasted for 800 to 1000 years.
“As Himalaya is considered to be the home of gods, it is believed that the forests are the part of their house. The landscape around temple is considered sacred and is preserved as temple grove. The tree of Cedrus deodara is believed to be the tree of God and is planted around temples,” wrote the authors of a 2006 article in The Journal of American Science.
When the British colonized the India, deodar wood became an asset. The timber was used extensively for the construction of barracks, public buildings, bridges, canals, and railway cars. The demand became so great that numerous deodar forests were harvested beyond the point of recovery and conservationist action was initiated in 1864 by the Dr. J. Lindsay Stewart, a British Conservator of Forests in Punjab region of the colonial India.
Deodar seeds made their way to Great Britain in 1831, and ten years later to Ireland and Scotland. In 1885, an Altadena resident named John Woodbury planted two hundred deodar saplings in parallel rows on his family’s rancho, down what is now Santa Rosa Avenue. They have been festooned with Christmas lights every year since 1920.
C.deodara is also used for its medicinal properties. Deodar oil has anti-inflammatory properties & health benefits. It is used for the treatment of fevers, urinary disorders, flatulence, piles, kidney stones, diabetes, etc. Moreover, the tree also holds a lot of importance in Ayurvedic traditions as all parts of this tree are quite beneficial.
Picture from Wikipedia
The Kalatop Khajjiar Wildlife Sanctuary in the Chamba district of Himachal Pradesh, India. It has a dense deodar and fir forest covering.
(Chail Wildlife Sanctuary )
Also, the Chail Wildlife Sanctuary in Solan district of Himachal Pradesh is popular for its thick deodar and oak forests along with grasslands, which are home to several animal and bird species like Sambhar, Goral and Cheer Pheasants.
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Pulkit Rajpoot ♥️
