Mysore: An Awesome World of Bonsai in the Cultural Capital: Kishkindha Moolika Bonsai Garden

[K. Shankara Bhat]

Dear Chandulal-alias- Chandrashekar GL & other MCE Alumni friends in Mysore like Mahesh Babu & Igoor Sunil,  namaskara.

I liked the below article & have a plan to visit this place during one of my my next India visits, with one day's stay in Mysore - may be in April itself. 

So, if possible, pls visit there & find out if we can buy a few plants to grow it in our house balcony in Nerul, Navi Mumbai.

I suggest that you make a preliminary survey & email to me.  In fact, this artcile inspired me to google more on Bonsai & I found: http://www.bonsaigardener.org/discount-bonsai-trees.html

Next week on 22-March, we have New Year Day [Nav-roz, start of spring season after end of winter] Holiday season here in Kazakahstan, when we celebrate YUGADI on 23-March in India. 

Advance UGADI Wishes for 23-March to all of you & your family.

With the best regards, 

-K. Shankara Bhat J @ Atyrau-Kazakhstan: @ 8:00 am; Feels Like:-10°C [Abs: -3°C]  Wind: at 29km/h

Back in Kazakhstan on Sat 3-Mar-after 4 weeks’ Vacation:

Next 4 weeks’ Vacation from 7-April to 4-MayJ

K-Cell #: +7 701 5433 123 [UAE mob. # +971-50-519 2119 for SMS/miss-call]; 

Mysore: An Awesome World of Bonsai in the Cultural Capital

A tour to the cultural capital of Karnataka will be incomplete if the tourists while here do not visit the Bonsai garden at Avadhutha Ashram of Shri Ganapati Sachidananda Swamy. The specialty

 By: Ramya BN

By Ramya BN [ Published Date: March 14, 2012 ]

A tour to the cultural capital of Karnataka will be incomplete if the tourists while here do not visit the Bonsai garden at Avadhutha Ashram of Shri Ganapati Sachidananda Swamy.
 
The specialty of the garden is such that most probably you may not get to see this kind of a rare garden anywhere else.
 
This beautiful Kishkindha Moolika Bonsai Garden is cultivated by Shri Ganapati Sachidananda Swamy by getting rare plants from the various countries he has visited.
 
Here you get to see all kinds of plants, right from the ones which are grown in the compounds of the houses to rare plants like Amrutapushpa that blossoms in all the seasons of the year.

The garden that is spread over an acre and a half of land has the uniqueness that grabs the visitors' attention and there are no chances of visitors not getting attracted to the scenic beauty of the garden. As the cultivation of Bonsai garden is so very specially done, each pot arrangement is awesome.
 
The importance of the Bonsai garden will be known only as one goes around it once. An artificial stream created in between the green grass and small waterfalls adds a lyrical effect to the scenic beauty.  Bonsai plants and trees belonging to varied families from different countries have been aesthetically placed here and there. Plants owe their origin to countries like Japan, China, America, West Indies, Canada, England, Malaysia, Indonesia, Europe and the like.
 
Information on every plant is displayed so that the tourists can easily identify the plants. As one treads along the pathways in between the garden, water flowing in the streams, tiny waterfalls, neatly laid ponds using small stones and a bridge to cross - all this makes a memorable experience.

Another attraction in this garden is a plant brought from seashore, which is grown here in salt water instead of sweet water. Yet another one is the Amrutapushpa plant whose flower blossoms once a month all through the seasons of the year. Its flower costs up to Rs one lakh. The plant has medicinal values as well. 
 
This rare Bonsai garden is the brainchild of Shri Ganapati Sachidananda Swamy. His efforts to promote Bonsai cultivation in India is praiseworthy.

There are over 200 plants in the garden. Plants and trees which are 200 years old are something to marvel at. So is the ‘Rama shile’ which keeps afloat in the pond and attracts the attention of the visitors.

Seeing this garden once could necessitate knowing something about Bonsai. The birth of the Bonsai itself has had a bit of mystique about it.  It is said that Bonsai existed in the third century AD itself. ‘Bon’ means pot and ‘sai’ means tree, and the tree grown in this system is called as ‘Bonsai tree’.  Earliest proof of Bonsai cultivation are found in China.
 
It is said that in China doctors practised Bonsai cultivation so that they could carry the medicinal plants alive from one place to another. Likewise it was also found that when the leaves were plucked for medicine, the roots and stems grew larger. Hence it is being thought that it was Ayurveda which gave rise to the evolution of Bonsai.
 
Today many plants of medicinal are in a state of extinction. It is necessary to preserve them for future generation. So through Bonsai  we can perhaps do that, just as it is finely demonstrated by Shri Ganapati Sachidananda Swamy by setting up his Kishkindha Moolika Bonsai Garden.

Ramya BN, India :

The ashram is situated at 3km from the KR circle, on Nanjangud main road, next to Yele Thota, near Ooty road campus of the JSS college.