In Hyderabad’s Karkhana, a neem tree stands in the way of change, and devotees don’t want translocation

In the middle of Karkhana Road, traffic splits around an old neem tree.

Its massive trunk, now wrapped in a purple silk saree, rises from a small circular platform painted yellow and red. The lower portion is painted white, while inside a hollow-like opening in the bark is a carved and painted face that devotees worship as goddess Mahankali. Above it, a sprawling green canopy stretches across the road. Just metres away stands the Sri Mahankali temple.

To traffic police, the tree sitting almost squarely in the carriageway is a bottleneck and an accident hazard. To temple authorities and residents who have grown up around it, moving it is unthinkable.

The disagreement has acquired greater significance as road widening and work related to the elevated corridor from Jubilee Bus Station towards Thumkunta are set to alter this stretch of Secunderabad.