Lord Shiva, Brahma, and Vishnu are said to have held their councils under this tree, making it even more sacred to Hindus. Lord Shiva is represented by the leaves, Vishnu by the trunk, and Brahma by the roots. The “Brahma Purana” also claims that Lord Vishnu was born under a Peepal Tree, so the “Peepal tree” also represents Lord Vishnu.

Because of its significance, this tree is revered as a god in Indian mythology. Krishna’s child form is depicted on a peepal leaf in painting and sculpture. Lord Krishna is also associated with Peepal. “Among trees, I am the ashvattha,” he says in the Holy Scripture Bhagavad Gita. The Peepal tree is also where Lord Krishna is said to have died.

with a couple of ragas of the Indian classical music, besides occupying a significant place as a friend of the heroine in love stories, poems and paintings. It’s State animal of Haryana.

The sole representative of genus antilope in India, the blackbuck, one of the most graceful antelopes, prefers to stay in a herd. The leader of the herd is a female. The blackbuck lives in open plains with short-grass tracts, feeding on grass and various cereal crops. The colour of the coat of the doe and young male is yellowish fawn. When a male becomes three years old, the colour of its coat starts darkening and becomes almost black on the back. However, in South India, the colour is dark brown. The male boasts of beautiful spiral horns whereas the female of the species is hornless.

The female reaches sexual maturity at two years of age. There is no specific season for mating and it takes place throughout the year.

There has been a drastic decline in the population of the blackbuck. Not very long ago, the lakhi daar of deer with a herd of one lakh blackbuck roamed freely in what is present Punjab and Haryana. Now very few of them can be seen around villages of Bishnois in Haryana and Rajasthan. Despite having been listed in Part I of Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, as endangered, the blackbuck continues to be hunted for sport. A case was recently registered against Bollywood actor Salman Khan for hunting a blackbuck.

The flight pattern of black francolin is short, direct flight punctuated by glides with rounded wings, rounded tail narrow black and white bars.

The male black francolin is black with white patch on the cheek, a chestnut collar and white spots on the flanks. The back and wings are scalloped with shades of golden brown with sub-terminal tawny-buff bands and pale edges. Tail is black with narrow white or greyish bars. Legs are reddish-brown to red.

The female is mainly brown, but has a chestnut hind neck. The extent of the white spotting on the flanks varies substantially across the species' range and the depth of colour of the females similarly varies. The female has the upper plumage, wings and tail as in the male but the black is replaced by mottled brown and the brown bars on the lower back and tail are wider. Female is similar but dull with no cheek patch, and collar is replaced with a nuchal patch. Head and under parts are buff where the male shows black. Rump and upper tail coverts light brown. Black francolins appear to be found in scrubby habitats with plenty of cultivated crops tall enough to offer shelter and open beneath to provide escape routes and easy travel. They prefer the areas of thick vegetation, usually near water. They are not forest birds but will frequent brush land and wood edges associated with grass land. They appear to be more closely associated to water than chukars are, and in drier areas.

The call of the black francolin, described as a loud ringing klik cheek-cheek-cheerakik or "kik-kik-kik"," kwee-kweeeee-kwee" can be heard in the mornings and evenings and almost all day during the breeding season. The male calls standing on an earth mound, bund, rock or a low tree branch and is soon joined by other birds answering from all directions.