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Sacred and spiritual gardens are an ancient tradition in our Indian culture. As per the Vedas, the 27 constellations have 27 trees, which are highly medicated. These trees when planted on a land together, have power to create immense positive and healing energy.
IIM Indore has developed such garden, and the inauguration took place on October 31, 2019 in the presence of Professor Himanshu Rai, Director, IIM Indore and entire IIM Indore community members.
Spread in approximately one acre area, the spiritual garden has 54 trees (2 medicinal trees each as mentioned in the Vedas) along with multiple aromatic medicinal and aromatic herbs. These include Tulsi, Aloevera, Insulin Plant, Brahmi, Lemon Grass, Hadjod, Night Queen, Jasmine, Parijaat, Harsingha, etc. among many more aromatic plants.
Professor Rai says- ‘There are two purposes of developing this garden. First, following the Clean India Mission, we should be developing areas and landscapes which enhance the aesthetics of the area we reside in. Second, with the kind of busy and fast moving lives we’re living, we need to find some mental peace and soothe ourselves as well. We created this garden keeping in mind the same objective, to provide a place for our students, faculty, staff, and entire community which helps in lessening the stress.’
He said that conscience need to be developed just like a garden, and both take equal efforts and hard work. ‘Spirituality consists of three things—fortitude, introspective reflection and equanimity. Fortitude stands for being fearless, introspective reflection means having the capability of self-thinking and equanimity is the quality to retain calmness in difficult situations as well. This garden is been developed in a way that all its 27 trees and ‘panchatatvas’ will emit positive energy and aromatic herbs will provide a pleasant area’, he said.
The highlight of the garden is the ‘Panchtatv Track’, which comprises of the five elements namely, sand, smooth pebbles, hard pebbles, grass, wood and water. When anyone walks barefoot on this track, these elements help in acupuncture and provide soothing effect. The Institute also plans to have a medicated stone in the garden. This stone with immense medicinal properties will be brought from Souparnika River from Karnataka soon.
The garden was built in approximately 6 months and is an ideal place for meditation, yoga and even conducting classes for spiritual activities. The trees are already more than five feet and the Institute looks forward to the lush green spiritual garden in the coming months.
Scientifically, the garden also serves as an approach to conserve trees and biodiversity. IIM Indore has always been devoted to save nature and has been conducting tree plantation drives on a regular basis.