Navagrah Van

Environment, Climate change, Afforestation, et al, are the buzz-words since the later part of last century. Little did I realise that the wealth of Indian scriptures contained a detailed anthology on Environment!

Navagraha Vana, as the name implies means placement of trees related to its planet corresponding to its beneficial location - both as a cluster or dispersed.

The information under Navagraha Vana that has been specified in various writings of our ancestors, included Vastu Shastra, and placement of trees & plants according to its corresponding Planet.
Lesser mortals too, under various Rashi's have trees that could bring luck or simply belong to their stars. Below is an attempt to assimilate that knowledge:

Navagraha Vana (Planet Trees)


No Star Star Botanical Name Common Name Direction

1 Sun Surya Calotropis gigantea Crown Flower Middle

2 Moon Soma Butea monosperma Flame of Forest South-East

3 Mars Kuja Acasia Catechu Cutch tree South

4 Mercury Mercury Achyranthes aspera Prickly chaff flower North-East

5 Jupiter Jupiter Ficus Religiosa Sacred fig North

6 Venus Venus Ficus racemosa Cluster Fig East

7 Saturn Sani Prosopis cineraria West

8 Rahu Rahu Cynodon dactylon Bermuda grass

Creeping cynodon South -West

9 Ketu Ketu Imperata cylindrica Cogongrass

Thath grass North-West


It is beneficial to plant trees as per scriptures; it is however imperative that native trees are planted so that we need not wory of its accalamatisomg to local conditions.

Urban Forestry: A strong case for restoring ecological balance

There is an urgent need for improving Urban Forestry. Whatever is lost must be restored and whatever remains must be preserved.

Lung Space - Cubbon Park





An Urban Forest plays a significant role in enhancing our natural environment and restoring the fast depleting ecological balance of our burgeoning Metropolitan cities.  Areas which were once native to eco-life - trees, birds, bees, little animals now jostle for space with concrete structures struggling to come to terms with reality, loss of home and micro-climate of its existance.

We need development, We are  reponsible for the rampant destruction. We must act - act before it is too late.

Or is it already too late?

Sample these statistics:..

 

80 year old Banyan Tree Felled at
Bettadasapura, near Electronics City to lay a road


• The figures of the central Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) reveal that Karnataka has the highest percentage of encroachment of national parks in south India-five national parks have lost nearly 685.61 hectare (1,694 acre) over the past five years. Nearly 750 acre (303 hectare) of reserved forest in Bannerghatta National Park area has been infringed upon by industrialists. Out of this, 482.32 hectare (1,191 acre) has been encroached upon over the past five years.
• Nearly 1,000 acres of land was found to be illegally occupied in the reseve forests surrounding Bangalore (extended) city areas.
• Number of lakes in Bangalore has come down from 159 to only 93. Strangely, the BBMP claims there are still 212 lakes in the City

• A recent study by the Indian Institute Of Science’s centre for ecological sciences (CES) shows that there has been a growth of 632% in urban areas Bangalore. This has come by significantly eating into green-belt areas.
• Among other regions, 281 sq km of forest cover lost in AP in the last two years
  encroachment in Assam's Kaziranga National Park, where nearly 7,790 hectare is illegally occupied
  In Arunachal Pradesh, nearly 3,005 hectare has been lost at Namdapha National Park.

These statistics are from studies, reasearch papers sponsored by either NGOs or Gov'ts agencies. That apart, each of us can do our bit to try and restore the damage.





I read a slogan - "Each One - Plant One". If each one of us, at least in the 4 Southern Indian states was to plant a tree, it would amount to about 25 crore trees; imagine all India... that would be about 25 lakh hectares of green cover for 1.22 billion people!  India could have its own rainforest, comparable or even surpassing our precious Western Ghats.

But is it just that simple? Can we just plant tree-saplings and be happy that we did our might and rest assured that the ecological balance will help itself? Think again! ...









Potpourri and Mango

Welcome to a new beginning!
To begin with, the blog has a new name and a title, although I do not fully understand its purpose. I promise to be regular with new stories and updates.
Potpuorri popularly means a melange of miscellaneous 'dried things' that smells divine... but I learnt that it actually means a 'pot of rotten items' in French. Well, so what? I'll pretend that I havent known its actual meaning.

MANGO!

It's the Mango season, and many varieties of mangoes (thank British puritans for the 'e') are on sale!! In Hindu mythology, Mango is referrd to as 'the food of the Gods' and "King of Fruits".

Mango, Aamra, Aam, Manidi, Maanga, Aamba, Mavu, ,

Call it by any name - its tastes just divine. Incidentally, the name Mango is said to be an anglicised version of its Tamil name - Maangai (unripe) and Maambazham (fruit).

A Tropical tree, The Mango (Mangifera indica) is indigenous to India and is a national fruit. he best fruits are available between April ~ August across India, although hybrids and cultivars are grown around the year.

About 800 cultivars are grown across the world; majority of the 'natural' varieties originate in India, and best are from mid-south Indian regions. In India the most prominent varieties are:

Alphonso (Hapoos), Kesar, Pairi - Maharashtra and Gujarat; Ratnagiri Alphonso being the hot cimmercial favourite with exporters for its colour, flesh, texture, shelf-life and sweet taste.
Banginapalli (Benishan), Chinna Rasalu and Pedda Rasalu - Andhra
Neelum - TN
Badami (similar to Alphonso), Mallika (IISc product), Sindhoora (red tinge), Malgova, Rasapuri, Totapuri - Karnataka
Suvarnarekha - Orissa and Andhra
Dusehri and Langra - Himachal, Haryana & UP;
Himsagar, Zardalu and Kishanbhog from Bengal

India is the world’s largest producer of Mango, contributing to about 52% of the world’s total production. It is grown over an area of 1.23 million hectares in the country producing 10.99 million tonnes; AP has the highest productivity of 12 tonnes per hectare, producing 3.07 million tonnes of mango per year, and UP has largest cultivated area of 0.27 million acres of land.

I never realised that there are so many varieties of preparations with mangoes both raw and fruit, and each region has its own variation to a recipe. These include juices/sherbet (Aam panna), rice preparations (mango rice/puliyogare), innumerable pickles & chutneys (most famous mouth-watering 'avakai' from Andhra), Aamras (mango puree). Mango Shreekhand

Medically, Mango is said to be excellent source of many phenols and proteolytic enzymes, and of vitamins A, C & D.
It is one of the most recommended fruits to fight beriberi and to heal bronchial diseases since a mixture of mango pulp and honey can be made at home to fight bronchitis. Mango is an excellent depurative for the organism and it is recommended for nervous people, to fight insomnia, to heal brain fatigue, mental depression and as a laxative, besides it is very helpful to fight heartburn. It has excellent results when used to eliminate kidney sand and to assist digestion. An infusion can be made with mango leaves to heal molar ache, to affix weak teeth and to eliminate pyorrhoea (pus from the gums). This infusion is very helpful to reduce the inflammation of the throat when used for gargling.