Banyan Tree represents Womanhood & Marriage

The Banyan tree is massive, long-living, and constantly regenerates itself through aerial roots. Therefore, it represents:

• a long, unbroken married life

• fertility & motherhood (its spreading roots resemble a womb nurturing life)

• protection (like a husband’s duty to protect his family

• patience & endurance

• "suhaagan" (a married woman whose husband is alive).

Traditionally, banyan trees stood at the centre of villages as a meeting place for elders; a site for women’s rituals; and aliminal space between domestic life and the cosmic order. This gave women a public religious role without leaving culturally accepted boundaries.

The tree is central to the story of Savitri and Satyavan, narrated in Mahabharata (Aranyaka Parva, chs. 277–283) ; Matsya Purana ; Devi Bhagavata Mahapurana. Savitri worshipped the banyan tree and performed penance to save her husband. She confronted Yama (god of death) and regained her husband’s life through wisdom and devotion, establishing the banyan tree as a symbol of marital devotion, moral strength, and spiritual intelligence. (Kaivalya Hinduism).

The strongest link between banyan trees and marriage comes from the festival of Vat Savitri, also known as Vat Purnima Vrat, observed by married women in many parts of India. Women fast and tie sacred threads around a banyan tree, and pray for the long life and well-being of their husbands.

Although the ritual centres around husbands, the power source is the woman herself. The banyan tree is often seen as a manifestation of Shakti (female divine energy of creation). Women’s tapasya (austerity) during the vrat is believed to activate that energy, and the tree becomes a witness to her vow and spiritual strength.

The Hindu belief is that womanhood is framed as life-sustaining, world-holding energy, not weakness. In contemporary practice, Vat Savitri is considered a "union of two souls", representing marital devotion and shared longevity, rather than just a one-sided prayer for a husband's life.