Tracing the history of IISc’s green pathways
While casually strolling through IISc roads, one simply needs to look up – to be immediately immersed in the sight of the soaring avenue trees. Vibrant-hued seasonal flowers bloom on them as they merge into canopies, creating a breathtaking vista throughout the campus.
The vibrant greenery of the campus is not only a captivating sight but also a botanical treasure trove. IISc is home to an array of rare and magnificent flora, be it in the wild and untrimmed spaces, the well-groomed department gardens, the thriving “miniforest” or the towering trees that line the lanes. But the campus roads didn’t always look like this.
“It was an A-shaped area of rough jungle country, sparsely covered with scrub and trees, and about half a square mile in area,” writes IISc’s first Director Morris Travers in his autobiography Morris W Travers: Scientist and Pioneer: An Autobiography. He was describing his maiden visit in 1907 to the site where IISc now stands. “It was a beautiful site, but it would have to be completely cleared of jungle vegetation and replanted. This was done later.” The terrain must have posed a significant challenge to navigate, as he later writes that he bought two horses named Marvel and Peter Pan for making his visits to the site.
A century on, IISc’s campus is a verdant landscape, celebrated as Bangalore’s green lung. Spread over 440 acres, the vegetation includes numerous small and large trees, both wild and cultivated, belonging to local as well as exotic species. Some trees on the campus are over two centuries old and predate the Institute’s establishment.
Sowing the seeds
As the Institute took shape, it became increasingly adorned with plants and greenery. Travers writes, “In Bangalore, a couple of coolies had looked after the garden, but now I succeeded in securing a head ‘mali’ who really was a gardener. He had been trained under a German, Krumbiegel, superintendent of Lal Bagh (Red Garden), the city garden, a very able horticulturalist and botanist. My new head mali knew the scientific name of every plant in the garden. The procedure by which he passed the information to me was a little complicated. I wrote down in my pocket book the name as he pronounced it, with a description of the plant. Then, when I met Krumbiegel, I gave him my notes, and as he, as a German, pronounced Latin differently from me, I had to ask him to write the true name down for me.”
The Institute had already begun to set a budget aside for the care of the gardens during the initial years of its inception. The Annual Report from 1911-12 reveals that the budget estimate under “Salaries and Expenses of Sanitary and Medical Department including Care of Grounds” was Rs 1,501, which was earmarked for compensating the “Gardener, Malee, Watchman, Sweepers, etc.”
The Institute had already begun to set a budget aside for the care of the gardens during the initial years of its inception
The German botanist and garden planner, Gustav Hermann Krumbiegel – whom Travers referred to in his autobiography – is credited to have made a significant impact on the microclimate of Bangalore. He not only developed the Lalbagh Botanical Garden and several other spectacular green spaces in the city but also planted the seasonal blossoming flower trees on the streets of Bangalore. Besides these, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the avenues of IISc as well. “He was the first person to introduce the major trees that we see today, like the Gulmohar, Jacaranda, Ficus, and so on,” says B Sridhar, former horticulturist of IISc. At the request of the Institute’s management, Krumbiegel helped plan the landscape of the IISc campus during the initial years.
In the 1940s, systematic planning and extensive plantation commenced when the “Building Committee” was reorganised to form the “Building and Gardens Committee”. This was also the time when Rao Bahadur BS Nirody joined the Institute as an honorary horticulturist. He was a great plant enthusiast with immense knowledge about growing and nurturing them. In 1950, a large-scale plantation drive was conducted under his guidance and 180 woody trees were planted on the campus as part of National Plantation Week. His report to the Director on the plantation activities on campus describes the detailed work that was undertaken at that time, including discontinuing the practice of deputing IISc’s employees to Lalbagh, planting avenue trees, replacing coarse foliage with flowering plants around the founder’s statue, raising seeds in-house, and so on.
Emerging green trails
“The naming of the avenues most probably was done during Nirody’s time,” says Sridhar. The names, however, evolved organically and not out of deliberation. The avenue trees were planted for practical purposes; over time, their names caught on and eventually, the avenues began to be called by their tree names. Gulmohar Marg, Tala Marg, Silver Oak Marg, Mahogany Marg, Madhura Marg, Mandhara Marg, Badam Marg, Nilgiri Marg, Javanica Marg, Mirinji Marg, Arjuna Marg, Ashoka Marg, and Amra Marg are the beautiful strings of avenues that traverse the IISc campus.
The campus remains lively year-round, with trees bursting into spectacular blooms in different seasons. The dazzling red gulmohar flowers ignite the sky with their fiery hues along with carpeting the avenue in scarlet as they drift to the ground during April-May. The ‘Yellow Flame’ trees of Tala Marg bloom with clusters of sunshine-hued flowers draping the branches while a golden cascade gently carpets the ground during March and April and again in September-October. The Ashoka Marg is adorned with green, tall, conical crown-shaped Indian Mast trees on both sides. The Nilgiri Marg is named after the towering Eucalyptus tree on the lane. Likewise, all the avenues are called by the most striking trees on the lane.
Sridhar himself spent 36 years at the Institute before retiring in 2022. When he joined in 1986, the avenues were already called by the names of the dominant trees lining them. According to him, planting particular trees in specific locations had functional purposes besides beautification. Various factors were considered while deciding the species to be grown, including the height of the trees, the depth of their roots, and the length and width of the lanes where they were planted. For example, big trees like Gulmohar and Jacaranda were planted in the avenues which required shade; tamarind trees were planted for windbreak, the flowering Cassias were planted along the campus boundary, and near the guest house, which required privacy and breeze, imported Casuarina plants were grown. “The planners have done excellent work in preparing the ground itself,” says Sridhar.
When he joined the Institute, he found a few vacant pits in the area where the Gymkhana stands today. Their dimensions were 4×4 feet – normally the pits are made 2×2 feet for planting big trees. This was done to facilitate the development of a better root system. In his tenure, he oversaw the planting of about 60,000 trees, taking extra care to ensure that the avenue trees were planted from the same species that they were named after. Excellent root drainage systems and microbial treatment of the soil have helped the trees outlive their average age – most of them are 70-75 years old. What was a sparsely green campus in the 1980s when Sridhar first stepped in, transformed into an opulent green scape by the time he left it.
The Institute had already begun to set a budget aside for the care of the gardens during the initial years of its inception
Enthralling greenscape
The avenue trees are managed by the “Garden and Nursery Unit” of the Centre for Campus Management and Development. Radhika Muthukumar, an engineer who presently heads this unit, explains that since it is a huge campus, every day, there is something that needs attention – identifying diseased trees and treating them, replacing dead trees with new ones, or pruning overgrown and dried branches. The unit maintains three teams, one each for the maintenance of the nursery, nurturing the department gardens, and taking care of the trees on campus. “Three supervisors go around the campus every day to check the trees and small plants. We prune the branches when a complaint is raised and a ticket number is issued,” says Chethan K, a secretarial assistant at the Unit. The collection of heaps of dry leaves is another activity that the nursery unit does regularly. In a long and slow process, these leaves are used to make organic manure. The amount of fallen leaves is sufficient to produce manure for the entire campus; only some manure is obtained from the market for the potting process done during the Founder’s Day flower show.
‘Having abundant tree cover is a necessity for mental well-being. A walk around the campus can be deeply rejuvenating’
The campus trees are cherished by both the IISc community and visitors alike. They add to the rich heritage of the Institute. They attract numerous birds, butterflies, insects, and other fauna and provide a home for them. “Beyond their environmental benefits, these trees also have a calming effect on the mind. Numerous studies have shown that spending time in nature reduces anxiety and promotes overall well-being,” says Subhasmita Patro, PhD student at the Centre for Ecological Sciences and current co-convener of the Institute’s Nature Club. “A walk around the campus can be deeply rejuvenating, particularly for PhD students who face a high-stress lifestyle. In such an environment, having abundant tree cover is not just a luxury but a necessity for mental well-being.” Among its other activities, the Nature Club also regularly organises “Tree Walks” for people in the Institute, to familiarise them with the campus trees, with the hopes of fostering an appreciation towards the flora on campus.
The avenue trees bear witness to decades of innovation, discovery, and learning and generations of students and researchers who have walked, cycled and sprinted along their lengths. Their sprawling canopies not only provide shade but also inspire contemplation, offering a serene escape from the relentless pace of competitive academic life. For generations, these majestic trees have been more than mere greenery; they have provided a testament to human’s deep connection with nature.
Sridhar says: “As a horticulturalist, I can say that the selection of the trees for planting along every avenue is excellent. It was done with a certain purpose in mind and today they have become the identity of each lane.”
(Edited by Rohini Subrahmanyam, Ranjini Raghunath)
