Kochi: In today’s materialistic world, people strive to find means to increase their bank balance by hook or crook. In this mad rush to rake in the moolah they don’t mind riding roughshod over nature. Prime ecosystems are being destroyed to make way for skyscrapers and malls. But all is not lost. There are individuals and organisations who are working to minimise the damage.
Understanding the need of time Fr Savince Cheerotha, principal of Rajagiri College of Management and Applied Sciences, mooted the idea of ‘nakshatra vanam’ on the campus at Kakkanad.
He said,”Planting saplings for all the 27 zodiac signs will help create a greater awareness about our cultural heritage among the students and as well as the visitors.” Each tree signifies a specific star. For example ‘atthi’ tree signifies ‘Karthika’. The saplings were collected from different nurseries across Kerala.
In olden days, temples and parks used to plant trees representing the zodiac signs in various geometrical combinations corresponding to circles, linear and elliptical lines, representing Sree Chakra and Sudarshana Chakra etc. Nakshatra vanams, were planted and taken care of by the devotees, who worshipped the trees representing their birth star. However, today these forests are on the verge of extinction.
“It is important to preserve plants for the coming generation and also for sustaining the bio-diversity of our region,” said Fr Cheerotha. Another attraction that the college is planning is a garden comprising different varieties of fruit trees such as mango, velvet apple, cashew nut and Indian gooseberry. The garden is home to 32 varieties of bamboos and exotic plants along with 85 ponds supporting various varieties of aquatic plants and different spices. Besides, the native fruit trees and plants, the Fr Savince has imported olive trees from Israel.
Father recalled the Herculean task involved in gathering the unique plants from road sides and dense forests. Father Savince is assisted by Sukumaran and Mathew in developing the green campus.
Nakshatra vanams in the state can be found at Mararikulam in Alappuzha, where a family preserves star forests in their family temple of Chamundi Devi. Raveedran, a member of the family and retired communication engineer said, “In olden days, nakshatra vanams were introduced to protect trees and plants and later on became a relevant tradition among the natives.” It has rich medicinal values and contributes to the beauty of the temple, he said.