Jamshedpur: The Horticultural Society of Jamshedpur organised the fourth Bonsai Fiesta organised by at the Tube Makers Club in Nildih. Chief conservator of forests, S.K. Gupta was the chief guest on the occasion while executive in charge of Tubes Division, Subodh Pandey was the guest of honour.
Gupta requested the Horticultural Society Jamshedpur to organize similar festivals in the Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary in a public private partnership mode which can be used to attract more visitors to the sanctuary.
The Bonsai Fiesta showcased around 100 presenters who had displayed miniature forms of mango, banyan, peepal and other large species of trees.
“The bonsai specimen is supposed to look old in the pot. You have to achieve a sense of age in a tree. The idea is you keep pruning it back to reduce the size of the leaf. If you don’t keep at them, then a branch can have a long space before it gets a leaf, and it just doesn’t look right,” an official said. The detailing with which the society members work at creating the best specimens of bonsai is remarkable!
According to historical references, bonsai trees were brought to Japan from China as souvenirs in the 6th century. These trees came to adorn the homes of wealthy Japanese people and the ‘potted trees’ became symbolic of Japan. Ironically, while bonsai is seen in Japan as an old man’s hobby today, in India it is a flourishing passion among plant lovers across cities with many starting their own profit-making enterprises.