The temple town of Palani in Dindigul district will soon have a model herbal park with various species of herbs and medicinal plants in the name of Bhogar, one of the ancient 18 Siddha healers lived in various parts of Tamil Nadu, according to sources from the Sri Dhandayuthapaniswamy Temple Administration in Palani.
Palani and its surrounding areas have a rich diversity of medicinal plant species that come under the Western Ghats zone.
The park, which is near the by-pass road, will cover an area of about one acre and will be attached to the theme park created by the district administration. The theme park is established in an area of eight acre. The creation of the herbal park is done by the temple administration, said T Rajamanickam, joint commissioner of the Murugan Temple Administration.
The herbal park would probably be the first of its kind in a temple and is aimed at reviving the memory of the great Siddhar who is believed to be lived and attained 'Nirvana' in the temple in 3000 BC. It will also help revive an interest among pilgrims and other tourists on the country's rich bio-diversity and medicinal plant resources. Further it will help others to take up cultivation of herbs, he said.
The temple committee will seek the help of technical support from outside agencies for the establishment of the park and planting of saplings. The park would include a wide range of species including the commonly found `naval' (syzygium cumini), 'illupai,' (madhuca rongi folia) 'nochi,' (vitex trifalia), 'kattamanukku' (jatropha curcus), 'athimathuram', 'karunkurichi', `kandankathiri', 'nithya kalyani,' 'vettiver' and some rare varieties too.
Since Palani is a tourist and pilgrimage centre, the district administration is setting up a trauma care unit at Palani Government Hospital to offer emergency medical care to accident victims on highways around Palani. Tamil Nadu Health System Project is executing the project.
According to epigraphical sources and his book Saptakanda, Bhogar was born in India and had visited China and other places and gained knowledge in medicine, astrology, spirituality and yoga. As an expert in medicine, he prepared an amalgam of nine medicinal minerals in proper proportion, using about 4448 rare herbs. Bhogar had clearly documented in his book the details of various medicinal preparations, said Manikantan, a research fellow of CTMR in Chennai.