They are so fun to climb on!
and swing from
Or take a rest in
These trees can be found all over Oahu, but be careful, ants love them too!
The tree, the legend:
In Hinduism, the banyan tree is considered sacred and is called "Ashwath Vriksha." God Siva as Dakshinamurthy is nearly always depicted sitting in silence under the banyan with rishis at His feet. It is thought of as perfectly symbolizing eternal life due to its seemingly unending expansion.
Oh, what's in a name?
The name was originally given to F. benghalensis and comes from India where early travelers observed that the shade of the tree was frequented by banias, or Indian traders. In the Gujarati language, banyan means "merchant", not "tree". The Portuguese picked up the word to refer specifically to Hindu merchants and passed it along to the English as early as 1599 with the same meaning.
By 1634, English writers began to tell of the banyan tree, a tree under which Hindu merchants would conduct their business. The tree provided a shaded place for village meetings or for merchants to sell their goods. Eventually, banyan came to refer to the tree itself.
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