Banyan-grove tree



The Banyan-Grove Tree is a single, enormous tree with a root system stretching for many miles across the Foggy Swamp area. The tree's roots have over time, spread across the entirety of the swamp, and created shoots which have propagated an entire forest of new trees. The Banyan-Grove Tree and the swamp are protected by the Foggy Swamp Waterbender, Huu, who claims to have reached enlightenment beneath its branches.

Properties
The tree, the swamp, and the environment are all directly connected to everyone and everything living, as Huu explained. It also has a mystic and enlightening effect on all of its visitors. While time being an illusion, it can show the past, present and future. The tribe accepts it as their natural environment, as well as their way of life. They also accept that they are part of it and the rest of the world.

History


After Aang, Sokka, and Katara are dispersed into the swamp separately from Appa and Momo, they are also separated from vines. While separated, the individuals begin to hallucinate. Sokka and Katara encounter people from their past. Aang, however, does not recognize the chuckling young girl "in a fancy dress", who is next to a strange creature a boar with wings, that appeared to him. Aang chases her, but despite his efforts, she evades him.

Aang, Katara and Sokka meet again when they collide into each other. Aang realizes that the swamp/tree has 'brought' them to the heart of the swamp, directly by the main canopy of the Banyan-Grove Tree and it's trunk. They are then attacked by 'living' vines in the guise of a giant humanoid shape with a mask at the center, which turns out to be Huu. Huu then proceeds to explain how the Banyan-Grove Tree works.

Aang begins to understand how the spirit, mysticism and power of the tree can be used, as well as applying the theory of it's environment and calling on a greater scale. Aang concludes that the young giggling girl is someone he will meet, Toph Bei Fong. Aang then uses his enlightenment to utilize the power of the tree and his own spirit to connect, to search and to find the rest of the team (Appa and Momo). Placing his hand on one of the main tree roots, in a trance like state Aang is able to connect metaphysically with the tree, across the swamp, and to where his two pets are.

Connection
Banyan trees are a variety of thick-canopied fig tree which grow in tropical regions across the world. While some species grow independently, others require host trees on which to initially grow, for which they the have acquired the byname, "strangler-vine". Older trees drop shoots down from the branches down toward the ground, where they take hold and propagate new woody trunks, connected to the original tree; in this way, some species are able to grow across several hectares. In many traditional societies, the banyan tree is used as a meeting spot or a marker for the center of the village, and in parts of Southern Asia, is considered sacred, especially in such Hindu influenced areas as India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Bali. The Bodhi Tree, the banyan species, Ficus religiosa, is where Buddha is said to have achieved his enlightenment.