Guardians of Chandigarh's Living Heritage
Preserving, managing, and celebrating the magnificent 100+ year-old green landmarks that stood long before our city was born.
Featured: The Magnificent Banyan Tree | Govt. Girls Model Sr. Sec. School, Sector 18D, Chandigarh
Core Mission Dashboard
Our Four Pillars of Action
Every initiative we run traces back to one of these founding commitments to Chandigarh's green legacy.
Protect & Preserve
Monitoring and guarding against illegal felling, disease, or mistreatment of historical trees across Chandigarh.
Citizen Education
Conducting community lectures, nature workshops, and street plays to build environmental care and ecological awareness.
Administration Partnership
Collaborating directly with the Chandigarh Administration on plantation drives and urban tree health programs.
Mass Awareness
Organizing cycle rallies, painting competitions, and maximizing social media reach to amplify the conservation message.
Heritage Collection
Showcase of Living Legacies
Explore seven exceptional heritage trees that define Chandigarh's ecological and cultural landscape. Click any card to discover their complete stories.
The Bargad of Guga Marhi
Ficus benghalensis
📍 PGI Area, Chandigarh (Guga Marhi Pir Mandir)
A deeply revered historical banyan standing outside the south wall of PGI near the roundabout. Features a sacred concrete platform (chauntra) built around its base and serves as a highly prominent spiritual and natural oasis in the medical campus periphery.
Age
250 Years
Trunk Girth
21 ft
Canopy Spread
63 ft
The Kalibard Peepal
Ficus religiosa
📍 Sector 9C, Chandigarh (Central MC Park)
Perhaps the largest individual peepal tree in Chandigarh, standing in a large public park that once served as the old rain-fed pond (toba) of the historical Kalibard village. It sports a completely round silhouette with 14 massive branches acting as natural outdoor rooms.
Age
250 Years
Trunk Girth
30 ft
Canopy Spread
130 ft
The Multi-Trunk Latticework Banyan
Ficus benghalensis
📍 Sector 18D, Chandigarh (Girls Model School Courtyard)
An organic labyrinth featuring a massive curtain of over 100 sprawling aerial roots dropping from the canopy directly into the schoolyard soil. This aggressive intertwining has completely fused with the core structure, forming a dense wood latticework where the primary original trunk is no longer distinguishable.
Age
170 Years
Root Girth
146 ft
Canopy Spread
80 ft
The Grand Old Man Mango
Mangifera indica
📍 Sector 19B, Chandigarh (Vatika School Playground)
Standing proud as the largest documented mango tree inside the Union Territory, this beautiful giant greets deaf and dumb children coming into the playground like an old friend. The report notes that its historic trunk requires urgent conservation treatment to protect its legacy against a localized termite infestation.
Age
150 Years
Trunk Girth
20 ft
Canopy Spread
80 ft
The 27-Branch Sacred Peepal
Ficus religiosa
📍 Sector 24B, Chandigarh (Sheetla Mata Temple)
A deeply revered tree anchoring the entrance of a historical village temple from the old village of Kailad. During historical smallpox outbreaks, generations of citizens gathered around its base seeking spiritual protection. The tree features an extraordinary architecture of exactly 27 massive horizontal branches radiating uniformly outward from its core.
Age
200 Years
Canopy Spread
110 ft
Tree Height
50 ft
The Ancient Mango of Maloya
Mangifera indica
📍 Maloya Village, Chandigarh (Dudhadhari Ashram)
Discovered as a sacred ecosystem in 1978 near the Patiala Ki Rao choe, this legendary specimen stands as the absolute oldest living mango tree ever discovered inside Chandigarh. It features 15 separate branch arms that are each a foot wide, and it continues to flourish even after surviving a historic ground fire.
Age
300 Years
Trunk Diameter
4.78 ft
Canopy Spread
60 ft
The Chappar Village Bargad
Ficus benghalensis
📍 Dadu Majra Periphery, Chandigarh (Historic Pond Site)
A magnificent banyan gracefully framing the banks of the ancient rain-fed village pond (Chappar). Its spectacular trunk is artistically wrapped and braided tightly by its own thick prop roots, forming a natural live sculpture that has served as the social focal point for historical local festivals and marriages.
Age
300 Years
Trunk Girth
19 ft
Canopy Spread
65 ft
Care & Protection Advocacy
Official Guidelines for Tree Upkeep
These science-backed guidelines represent CTL's recommendations to the Chandigarh Administration and the public for the long-term care of heritage trees.
100+
Year-old trees currently under active monitoring and protection by CTL volunteers across Chandigarh.
Grounded Aerial Roots
Giving banyans unpaved earth space to drop and establish support trunks — allowing nature's architecture to thrive unimpeded.
Darker Nights
Eliminating artificial night lights near canopies to save photosynthesis cycles and protect resident birds and insects.
Lightning Conductors
Safeguarding exceptionally tall trees from atmospheric lightning hits with properly installed earthing conductors.
Earthen Platforms
Constructing porous platforms around root zones to prevent concrete choking and ensure rainwater percolation to deep roots.