I love the words “Banyan Tree”. For me they conjure the image of luxury, service and tranquillity of the Far Eastern hotel chain, but also the warm spirituality of Buddhism.

Banyan Trees though are actually Indian in origin and so a symbol of Hinduism and for them, eternal life. They are actually fig trees, part of the Mulberry family.

Banyan’s trees grow to heights of 100 feet and famous for the way their branches spread laterally. Branches drop, taking root in the soil to become new thick trunks. The tree starts to resemble a thicket, with trunks attached over a wide area either directly, or indirectly, to the main truck and may be as thick as the original trunk. The Great Banyan tree of Kolkata, in India is 250 years old, has 2880 secondary trunks and spreads over an incredible 4.67 acres or 18,895m2.

Miary in the southern part of Madagascar has an important Banyan Tree that is 1700 years old,.

Then close to me, here in Nosy Be, there is a famous Banyan tree that is 200 years old, and a special place for Animists, and worthy of a visit.

Animists was a word given by Anthropologists, to the belief systems of indigenous people. Belief that all natural things have a soul, that the soul never dies and that the spiritual and physical world is one. Forerunners to the traditional religions of today, it seems to me that animism is still , ‘alive and kicking’ and, for many, sits alongside their belief in the ‘organised religions’.

The Sacred tree of Mahatsinjo in Nosy Be is visited by locals, as a place that links the terrestrial and spiritual worlds. Locals pray there, make offerings and seek blessings and guidance from their ancestors. Not only a religious place it also has cultural significance. Seen as a place where Malagasy customs, traditions and history pass down the generations.

The tree is reached by a very rough tut tut ride from the main town of Hell-ville through some of the poorest parts of the town, until you descend in to a small wooded area near the sea. There, in front of you, is a small picket fence and wooden doorway. On the other side the tree.

Strange to name it a tree. You remove your shoes, cover your legs with an African kamsu and enter in to the thicket that is the tree itself. For luck you must cross the threshold with your right foot first. The tree is 5000m2 in area and the dripping roots and trunks tangle together above you, around you and below your feet.

I cant claim to have had any spiritual experience, but I can marvel at what nature can create. The tree entices you to go inside, and you feel that the roots can, at any moment, encircle you and capture you so that you can’t escape.

I was taken to a warmer scene of the Avatar film where our heros need to safeguard the Eywa tree of Pandora. Surely this amazing tree species was the inspiration.