TIRUNELVELI: An herbal garden in a village in Tirunelveli provides herbs free of cost to villagers to cure a wide range of diseases including headache and jaundice.
M Ramathal, president of Keela Vellakkal Panchayat along with her husband, Muthiahsamy hailing from a small hamlet at Thuvarangadu, situated 40 kms from Tirunelveli, has created the herbal garden in their village.
The garden has over 50 varieties of herbs.
Since there was nothing special in the village other that regular farming activity, the couple decided to establish something special that no other village in Tamil Nadu has.
Last year when the couple visited the Rose Garden in Ooty, they decided to establish a similar garden for herbs in their village.
With the support from district administration they raised a protective wall costing Rs 51,000 for the garden.
However, they spent money from their pocket to purchase herbs from various parts of the State including Periyakulam, Ooty and Courtrallam.
The herbs in the garden can cure, headache, cold, fever, asthma, chickenpox, kidney stones, jaundice among others. Some of the herb varieties include Kuppai Meni (to cure stomach ailments), Periya Nangai (for snake bite), Kulir Thambarai (to reduce body heat), Vallarai (to improve memory).
At the garden, boards displaying the names of the herb and the disease it can cure have been placed. The herbs are watered regularly either by the couple or the panchayat employees.
The herb is provided free of cost not only to the villagers of Thuvarangadu but also to residents of nearby villages.
Speaking to Express, the couple said: “We never expected that this garden would function so successfully.
Around 10 people get herbs from the garden daily and the number of persons who go to the hospitals has come down drastically. In future, we have planned to increase the varieties of herbs to 100.” Ramasamy, a resident of the village said, “Earlier, there were no hospitals and herbs cured all the diseases.
Nowadays, many are not aware of the importance herbs that cure diseases without any side effects.”
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