Madhusoodhanan Nair and Gopinatha Menon lighting the lamp, marking the beginning of the celebrations at Vadavannur Vaidyasala on Saturday (August 15, 2026).
| Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
At midnight on August 15, 1947, as India stepped into freedom, a young banyan tree was planted at Vadavannur Vaidyasala in Kerala’s Palakkad district. Seventy-nine years later, the country and the tree are still sharing the same birthday.On Saturday, the people of Vaidyasala gathered to mark both occasions: India’s 80th Independence Day and the 80th birthday of the banyan tree that has grown with the nation.The tree was planted by Vadakkeppattu Narayanan Nair, a Sanskrit scholar and Ayurveda physician from Vadavannur. He planted it near the Vadavannur post office at the stroke of midnight, when India became independent.
Vadavannur grama panchayat president Vincy C. hoisting the national flag beneath a banyan tree at Vadavannur Vaidyasala, celebrating the 80th Independence Day on Saturday (August 15, 2026).
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