Tree plantation By Dombasara Sabuja Sena || ବନମହୋତ୍ସବ || ସବୁଜ ସେନା || Dombasara || Rayagada || Tree

Van Mahothsav or Vanamahothsava, lit. 'Forest festival', is an annual one-week tree-planting festival in India which is celebrated in the first week of July. It is a great traditional Indian festival that reflects Indian culture and heritage to honor and love mother earth by planting trees, by creating awareness of nature's beauty, and by fostering an environment to promote the concept of reduce, reuse, and recycle. The words “Van” and “Mahotsav” are derived from Sanskrit language. “Van” which can also be spelled as “Vana” refers to “Forest”, and “Mahotsav” is a combination of “Maha” meaning great and “Utsav” meaning festival. So the literal meaning of “Van Mahotsav” can be deduced to “A Great Forest-Festival”, an event celebrated by the Indian community throughout the world with the central theme of planting trees.

Overall, Van Mahotsav is an important occasion to raise awareness about the benefits of trees and to encourage people to become more active in environmental conservation efforts. By planting more trees, we can help mitigate the impact of climate change, protect the environment, and promote human well-being. The brilliant idea of reduce, reuse, and recycle directly correlates with contribution to answer global warming and foster nature. Van Mahotsav is for those who love mother earth, and also for those who are ignorant because they will also get to enjoy the natural equilibrium between good environment, beautiful weather, and pleasant climatic conditions. Celebrate this festival is directly related to significantly contributing to increase in the greenery of India, and World around.

Origin and History
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Indian national tree planting week was organized by Mohinder Singh Randhawa from 20 to 27 July 1947. Randhawa had been inspired by ideas of a forest week, the festival of trees, or arbor days in various countries. The first event of 20 July 1947 was inaugurated with the planting of Bauhinia saplings by Khurshid Ahmad Khan, commissioner of Delhi in the morning and the afternoon, another ceremony was held at the Purana Qila led by the Vice President of the Interim Government, Nehru. Another day was called Ladies Day and involved planting at the Qutub Minar with participants including Lady Mountbatten. Nehru said that It was a matter of surprise to him that so far no interest had been taken in tree plantation. Large tracts of the country had become deserts owing to the negligence of the people who cut trees without realizing their great value. There should be a law that no one should cut a tree unless he had first planted a new one in its place. Gandhi was in Delhi at the time and noted it in his prayer speech "The official who originated the idea of tree planting did not do it for fancy nor was it meant only for the monied men. It began with them so that others would copy them and thus add to the wealth and rainfall of India. Deforestation led to diminished rainfall. Moreover, trees required little care except in the early stages. An acre of land used for growing fruit trees would yield more fruit than a crop of wheat on the same area..."[1] The tradition was continued and made into a national activity in 1950 by the Minister of Food and Agriculture Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi who moved it to the first week of July and renamed it as Van Mahotsav in 1950.[2][3]

Movement Turn Into Festival
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Van Mahotsav has come a long way since it was first establishment - started as a movement, evolved to a crusade to save mother earth, got recognized as celebration of life in a number of states in India, and finally to a festival which is now recognized by many states as national holiday. Some say KM Munshi started the movement of Van Mahotsav in 1950 who was then serving as the Union Minister for Agriculture and Food. Some say the history of this movement traces back to the year 1947 when MS Randhawa, a Punjabi botanist, organized a tree plantation week from 20 to 27 July. Khurshid Ahmad Khan, who was the then Delhi Police Commissioner, took part in this event’s inauguration on 20 July 1947. #vanamohastaba #ବନମହୋତ୍ସବ #tree #treeplantation #forestation #deforestation #greenindia #cleanindia #treeplantaion #odisha #dombasara #gunupur #rayagada #MAA_ke_liye_ek_ped #narendramodi #mohanmajhi #natural #nature #naturelovers #naturephotography