Concrete structures threatening unique bamboo grove

By Nisha Rai Dharan, June 28: The famous Budhasubba temple complex in Dharan is the only place in Nepal where tipless bamboo is found. However, the construction of concrete structures around the bamboo bush has pushed it to the brink of extinction. So now, the local government has begun work to preserve it.

The bamboos here have not produced new shoots for over a decade. This prompted the then Mayor of Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City Tilak Rai to take a team of botanists and conduct an on-site inspection.

After the inspection, the team, led by Sanju Parajuli, professor of Botany at the Central Campus of Technology, concluded that the concrete wall and the resting place built around the bamboo grove had hindered its growth and reproduction.

Professor Parajuli prepared a report stating the same and submitted it to the sub-metro following which, the city dismantled the wall and the resting place. It is currently building a stone wall without any concrete 10 feet away from the grove. Work is also underway to build a wire fence around the bamboo clump to protect it from harm.

Uttam Ale Magar, the priest of the Buddhasubba temple, told The Rising Nepal that the species growing on the temple premises was 300 years old, predating even the unification of Nepal by Prithvi Narayan Shah. But experts worry that they may not survive through this century because increasing concrete construction around the temple is preventing the bamboo’s roots from accessing the soil.

People believe that tying threads around the bamboo shoots gets their desires fulfilled. Of late, young couples had begun carving their name into the culms but that practice has now been banned.

According to folklore, once upon a time, a Limbu brother came on a hunting trip to Bijaypur with his sister and disappeared. But their bow and arrow remained here and the bamboo sprouted from that. That is why the bamboo shoots here do not have their tips. There are temples dedicated to both the brother and the sister at Budhasubba.