Madras Day series on natural history: a survivor at the Marina

At the Marina beach, an old man warming a low wall mounted with a steel grille finds a silent companion in an old Neermaruthu tree. The tree stands in a garden enclosed by this wall. The two seem connected at more than a physical level. They are at comparable life stages. The old man has weariness of time weighing down on him, getting by on a walker, which he has kept next to him, as a setting sun douses him in a gentle light. Bent and wizened not as much by age as vandalism, the tree seems to stretch out towards the ebbing sun. Its buttress has been chewed out, and in the huge hollow, an opportune young Peepal tree grows. The inside of the hollowed-out buttress bears a burnt look, the black inside contrasting with the natural whiteness on the outer surface of the intact buttress and the trunk.

At the Marina beach, an old Neermaruthu tree whose buttress has been chewed out, and in the huge hollow, an opportune young Peepal tree grows. The inside of the hollowed-out buttress bears a burnt look, the black inside contrasting with the natural whiteness on the outer surface of the intact buttress and the trunk. The image was taken on August 6, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
PRINCE FREDERICK

T.D. Babu, key member of tree conservation organisation Nizhal and a member of the Chennai District Green Council, points out that this old tree makes a commentary on the landscape. Being an indicator species, it is a trusted chronicler of the landscape’s history, now rudely overshadowed by development. This tree stands at a section of the Marina, where a life-size statue of Bharathiyar does too. To its west, the tree finds the office of the Water Resources Department located on the other side of Kamarajar Salai. Cooum river is not too far from the scene. To the north, the tree finds the river entering under the Napier bridge, holding hands with the thick waters of the Buckingham Canal before bounding down the last stretch merrily towards the sea. 

An old Neermaruthu tree at the Marina.
| Photo Credit:
PRINCE FREDERICK

Babu explains that Neermaruthu (Terminalia Arjuna; called in everyday conversations across India as Arjuna) is a species found along rivers and other waterways, largely along the coast. This tree was not planted and occurred naturally and is therefore an iconic representation of the landscape’s intrinsic character. In the olden days, the Cooum and the sea would have interacted way more differently than they do now, and the former’s contours would have changed over the centuries.

Stands of Neermaruthu trees in the vicinity of the Cooum in a pre-development era could not be ruled out. This lone, old tree is probably the rare one to survive this development. With whatever vim it has, this tree ought to be protected for the living showcase of natural history that it is.