This Garden will show case the rich culinary and curative diversity of Malabar. There are no Gardens in India working with the objective of protecting the long history of medicinal herbs, folk medicine and cuisine, crop husbandry and agricultural practices. For Malabar, the historic treatise of van Rheed’s “Hortus Malabaricus” published in Amsterdam between1678-1693 is the testimony of the rich herbal heritage of the region. Many herbs and plant parts available in this region are still widely used in the Ayurvedic and Unani system of medicine. The Garden will serve as a Gene Sanctuary of the flora mentioned in the Hortus Malabaricus, and species in use for the traditional art forms the region like Theyyam and other such folk arts, which are of ethno-botanical value, and important to culture of people of the region. Biodiversity of the Malabar region is greatly influenced by the management approaches of diverse “socio-cultural groups” live here.
There are over 30 ethnic communities in Kerala alone. The Wayanad district is identified with 11 ethnic communities. Each community developed diverse foods and drinks out of every possible genetic resource. Several such culinary dishes and offers to GOD have already been documented from some of the sites in the Malabar region. Fast erosion of the belief systems, traditional knowledge, cultural practices, art forms, and music associated with bio resource production and enhancement is visible in the region. The need for preserving and promoting the traditional culinary diversity in order to conserve the rich diversity of flora and fauna of the place thus becomes important and urgent. The flora employed by each socio-cultural group of the region in meeting their food, health and nutrition will be demonstrated in this Garden in partnership with such community.