A Global Revival: Hindus Rediscovering Kovidar
From London to Austin, why diaspora Hindus are planting Kovidar saplings in temples, schools and gardens.
A flowering of memory
Something quiet is happening in temple gardens around the world. After the consecration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in 2024, a renewed interest in the trees of the Ramayana has taken root among Hindus globally. Kovidar — long overshadowed by the more famous peepal and banyan — is being rediscovered as the tree most intimately tied to Ayodhya.
Diaspora initiatives
In London, Bradford, Dallas, Austin, Toronto and Sydney, community groups have begun sapling drives. Temples that once planted only peepal and tulsi are now requesting Kovidar from Indian nurseries. In schools, children are learning to identify the bilobed leaf — a small literacy of dharma and botany braided together.
A future rooted in story
A civilisation lives in its stories and in its soil. To plant a Kovidar is to place a story in the earth. Each spring, when the branches erupt in flower, a quiet sentence from the Ramayana comes alive in a foreign climate — and finds itself at home.
