The State Forest and Wildlife Department has embarked on an ambitious project to grow and preserve all the 742 varieties of herbs and plants that find a mention in the historic work Hortus Malabaricus (Garden of Malabar) by Hendrik Van Rheede, who was the Governor of the Dutch administration in Kochi during 1667-77.
The project, 'Hortus Malabaricus Sasya Sarvaswam', conceived by a collective of writers and cultural leaders in Kozhikode, will be set up in 24 acres of land adjacent to the Forest Department's timber depot at Chaliyam. The work will be inaugurated by Forest Minister Benoy Viswom at Chaliyam at 10 a.m. on Friday. The Minister will also inaugurate the work on a snake park and an aquarium proposed as part of the project.
The project is expected to be particularly useful to students and researchers working in the area of herbal plants in the State. It can make the people more aware of the rich biodiversity and herbal wealth of the State, especially of Malabar. The proposed garden will also have the saplings of all the herbs and plants mentioned in the historic work for sale.
The Hortus Malabaricus materialised with the help of as many as 20 well-known medicinal practitioners including Itty Achuthan, Ranga Bhutt and Vinayaka Pandit. The monumental work in 12 volumes was translated into English and Malayalam by botany scholar and taxonomist K.S. Manilal recently.
District panchayat president K.P. Kunhammed Kutty will preside over the function. Writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair will be the chief guest. M.K. Raghavan, MP, and divisional forest officer A. Sathynathan, among others, will attend the function.
