We are so proud to pronounce the Love Bund finished.

The Love Bund

Named after the heart shaped hole dug to obtain the soil, it has taken well over a month and a half to be stomped, packed and patted into perfection. Hours of laughter and sweat have been spent, with our friends Mumpty and Crowbar, in this hole.

The Love Water Hole

Now it’s all about waiting for that monsoon rain to trickle and drip into the heart, catching and trapping all the silty goodness. As it overflows and joins all the water in the damm created by the bund, it will sink deep into the soil, spreading life into the forest’s roots.

From a bund, with love, we wish you a ecotastic week!

Happy Diwali Everyone,

On the 5th of November Sadhana Forest was all light and beauty with lamps lined all along the path and beautiful deepam(oil lamp) mandalas made to mark the celebration of Diwali, the festival of light.
Diwali, which is one of the most important festivals in India is celebrated on the kartika amavasya or no moon every year, usually in October or November. The festival is celebrated to mark the return of the victorious Gods after the destruction of evil. Usually all households leave the doors of their homes open on this auspicious day and decorate their houses with flowers and lights to invite the Gods to all homes to mark the victory of good over evil.

Over 20 young friends of Sadhana forest from Pondichery, invited by long term volunteer Raja and Vikram spent presence with us on this beautiful occasion and arranged for a lovely diwali puja. The beautiful lights, people shining with energy, the pretty mandalas, the special puja, the delicious vegan meal cooked by Raja and friends, the special diwali apple dessert prepared by Jamey made for a perfect start for the bright, noise and smoke free, diwali celebrations. Everyone present, the volunteers and the guests, participated in the puja which led to a magically musical time where everyone opened their voices and chanted and built beautiful harmonies in togetherness.

After a magical toning the gathering moved into the main hut where after dinner everyone present danced to some Indian dance numbers and to some drumming and ethnic music prepared by friends in Sadhana. Towards the end of the evening the main hut was thumping with the rythms and moves of energetic flushed happy sweaty faces.
The full moon that follows Diwali, the Karthika paurnami or Deepam that is considered a very auspicious day is also being marked and celebrated here in the forest by gathering around a big sacred fire, magical voices coming together to chant and some dancing to celebrate the moon and light.
We wish everyone a Happy Diwali and Happy Deepam. We hope to carry this light with us all through the year and hope that many of you will bring your light to join us here in the forest to light some lamps of love, peace and laughter.
Spread Love, Spread Light, Spread smiles,
Niki.

After the plotting and marking of the land it was time for the first tree to be planted.The first tree that was chosen to be planted on the land was the peepal tree. In Traditional Indian culture the Peepal tree is considered an assembly point for people to come together. The tree also has a high spiritual significance in Indian mythology.

After the selection of the tree, we introduced to our friends here the tree planting technique that we presently use in Sadhana Forest. This technique is an attempt to replicate natural systems. After selecting the area to be planted, a circle with a radius of a meter is marked. A trench is dug along this circle in a way that the depth of this trench is even at all points.

With the soil that is dug out to make the trench, a circular mound with a hollow centre is created in the circle. The empty centre is left for the tree to be planted in.

After the mound is shaped it is filled with water up to the top. As a result of this the moisture content in the soil increases and the water goes into the soil to create a conical shaped water trough under ground to keep the roots hydrated as they make their way into the earth. In this way the trees don’t need much post planting care and attention. The conical water trough serves the tree until the roots get strong enough and is able to fend for itself.

Our tree planting friends from Omkareshwar who were earlier following a different technique of digging holes and planting in one to two feet deep holes were very open to this idea.

The first tree was planted in the presence of several children from the school, Sarabjeet Bharaj, the director of the organisation, and several other members from the ashram and the school.