Kerala Propagation of Awareness of Medicinal Plants

The Kerala Centre for Heritage Studies feels it is its earnest responsibility to promote awareness and further propagate knowledge related to medicinal plants.</br>

Dr. T.P. Narayanan Kutty, Director of the Kerala State Department of Eco-Tourism ecouraged the Kerala Centre for Heritage Studies to start a garden of rare varieties of medicinal plants in their campus. The Kerala Centre for Heritage Studies promoted this garden in the name of Hortus Malabaricus, one of the 17th century Latin texts by Van Rheede, a Dutch Commandant, who took scientific interest and appointed a team of researchers and physicians to document the plants heritage of the Malabar Coast our garden attracted several people who were keen to grow plants in their household garden. As a result the Kochi Hortus Malabaricus Herbarium was created at the Kerala Centre for Heritage Studies.</br>

Subsequently, with the financial help of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in India, New Delhi, the Kerala Centre for Heritage Studies started a visitor’s gallery related to the Dutch culture and Hortus Malabaricus, the Kochi Hortus Malabaricus Museum. </br>

Along with this Kerala State Department of Eco-Tourism project, the Kerala Centre for Heritage Studies brought a small booklet known as ''Hortus Malabaricus – Malabarile Sasyasambath'' by Dr. Philip Mathew, former Professor in Botany, University of Calicut. Simultaneously we brought out a detailed analytical study of medicinal plants described in Hortus Malabaricus in Malayalam. We gave the scientific details and medicinal contents of the Hortus Malabaricus plants in this book, named ''Hortus Malabaricus Malabarile sasya sampathum Oushadha gunangalum'' by Dr. Philip Mathew and Mr. Jose Mathew.</br>

The centre also started to prepare a herbarium of these plants for the visitors and students.</br>

The Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Education, Thiruvananthapuram bestowed on the Kerala Centre for Heritage Studies a research project on the Collection and Ex-situ Conservation of the Medicinal Plants Described in Van Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus. This project was intended to promote awareness and cultivation of medicinal plants in the rural area. Under this scheme, we distributed plants to schools, libraries and farmers. We started two centres, one at Vatakara, Calicut and one at Panmana Ashram, Kollam with this purpose of propagation.</br>

The Kalady Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, for one of their add on courses known as Kerala Responsible Ayurvedic Tourism Educational Resource (KRATER), requested us to organize a herbal garden as a demonstrative plot for them. We organized this garden and handed it over to Dr. J. Prasad, Vice Chancellor of the university in a suitable function. This demonstration garden was also named after Hortus Malabaricus.

OBJECTIVES
To promote awareness and further propagate knowledge related to medicinal plants.

RESULTS
* Creation of the Kochi Hortus Malabaricus Herbarium.
* Creation of the Kochi Hortus Malabaricus Museum.
* Small booklet ''Hortus Malabaricus – Malabarile Sasyasambath''.
* Detailed analytical study of medicinal plants ''Hortus Malabaricus Malabarile sasya sampathum Oushadha gunangalum''.
* Preparation of the Calicut Medicinal Plants Herbarium.
* Research on Collection and Ex-situ Conservation of the Medicinal Plants Described in Van Rheede’s Hortus Malabaricus.
* Organisation of a Herbal Garden for KRATER

See also:
Kalady Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (Organisation)

Philip Mathew (Expert)
Jose Mathew (Expert)