India's largest Bonsai garden, with a collection of 250 trees, has been developed at Sri Avadhoota Datta Peetha, at the initiative of Sri Ganapathi Sachidananda Swamy. The gardan, with Bonsai species brought from China, Singapore, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, West Indies, Australia and Brazil, is open to visitors daily - 9 a m to 12 noon and 4-7 p m.

The swamiji, known for his keen interest in horticulture, has taken to Bonsai development with its therapeutic potentials in mind . As he put it, the purpose for creating this garden is to promote public awareness in the medicinal values of Bonsai. He has named the place as Kishkinda Moolika Bonsai Garden. It is said that at least 125 spieces at the ashram have known medicinal values.According to him, one can derive therapeutic benefits from trees without having to destroy them.

Traditional travelling medicine men in medeavel China carried with them potted Bonsai for treatment of patients.To facilitate their transport medicinal Bonsai plants were trimmed constantly, which shrunk the size of leaf and led to a dense growth of twigs.

Bonsai - the art of miniaturising plants and growing them in pots that hold trees with lifespan of upto to 200 years - is known to have been in vogue since third century AD in China during the Han dynasty. Scholars are reported to have found evidence of this technique of plant cultivation in our Scriptures. The description of Kishkinda Vana in Ramayana is cited as an example.

Thanks to the swamiji's pioneering efforts, Mysore may well become a favoured destination for horticulture scientists and medical researchers alike.

(Sourced from reprots by Sharath S Srivatsa in 'The Hindu' and S Jayasimha in The Mysore Mail - May 23, 2005)