A giant, ancient African baobab in Pallimunai village, believed to be some 700 years old and the largest tree in Sri Lanka by girth.

Overview

In the village of Pallimunai just outside Mannar town stands a vast, gnarled baobab tree, its swollen bottle-shaped trunk unlike anything else in the Sri Lankan landscape. Estimated at several hundred years old with a circumference of around 19.5 metres, it is reckoned to be the largest tree in the country by girth and the most famous of the island's rare baobabs. A protected archaeological monument, it is a short, easy visit and a curious link to Mannar's ancient trade with the Arab world.

History

Baobabs are native to Africa and were introduced to Mannar centuries ago, tradition holds by Arab traders who used the fruit as fodder for camels and left seeds that took root in the dry coastal soil. Only a few dozen baobabs survive in Sri Lanka, most of them on Mannar Island, and the Pallimunai giant, believed to be around 700 years old, was declared a protected monument by government gazette in 1955.