καιρός remembered

Ficus benghalensis

Why is the Indian fig tree, with its distinctive hanging aerial roots, called a banyan? It’s an interesting story, which has nothing to do with its sacred nature.

‘Banya’ appears to be the Gujarati word for ‘trader’. Via Portuguese and later English, the word ‘banyan’ first came to mean Hindu trader in India, and subsequently Indian fig tree, because Hindu traders invariably conducted their business in the villages beneath the large, shady foliage of these monumental trees.

Photo of the week: Banyan tree, Lucknow, India 2017