On the evening of Budh Purnima (Friday, May 5, 2023), 14 people, including 3 children, took an hour-long walk in AuroVanam. Beneath a canopy of trees, this walk allowed us to be with the forest, listening to its calming sounds, admiring the wonders of old trees, limas, and termite castles with other organic life, and breathing in the fresh air, feeling the stress disappear as we walked into the forest environment.

The Lianas creepers can be seen in their full glory winding over the old trees in patches of native undisturbed forest, forming pathways for small mammals, invertebrates, lizards, rodents, and insects.

The thick leaf compost, naturally covering the forest floor, is a beautiful example of the invisible underground network connecting the trees with their neighbouring saplings and trees.

On turning a corner, one comes face to face with a big termite castle, its an example of the most sustainable architecture, with tall minarets that control the temperature of the space inside, house a farm of fungi and a whole kingdom consisting a queen, babies, soldiers, and workers.

The Aurovanam forest is full of wonder, and there is much to learn. We discovered a lot about their natural environment and local ecology on this forest walk. We saw firsthand how important it is to take care of our forest. The children enjoyed a mythological Mango tree story from the 1st century BC.