I am sure – no one hates flowers. And while comes to Orchid, who won’t love to see, soothe eyes, and eulogize the marvellous creation of God? My Assam visit was really special this time as I got a chance to appease my eyes with these wild beauties.
A
dazzling display of 500 common and exotic orchid species! A class unmatched! Yes!
It is in a park at the national wild sanctuary – Kaziranga. It’s an attempt to
preserve the biodiversity which we seem to be losing at a fast pace, by the founder Secretary of Krishak Mukti
Sangram Samiti (KMSS)- a left wing peasant organisation
based in Assam –
Akhil Gogoi and his team. Orchids are highly climate-sensitive plants and most
of them have an aerial mode of living, often with restricted ranges. There are
26,049 orchid species across 880 genera, recorded in the world, while more than
500 species are seen only in northeast India alone. It is one of the largest
families of flowering plants apart from the man-made hybrids coming from across
the world.
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a pleasant, aromatic greeting.... |
Just
a year back, Akhil Gogoi and his team launched this orchid and biodiversity park,
naming Orchid Garden. The park houses not only 500 orchid varieties found in
Northeast, but also 200 varieties of paddy, medicinal plants which are fast
becoming extinct, various types of local flowers and 132 species of sour fruits,
12 species of cane, 46 species of bamboo and a large variety of fishes. The
basic purpose of opening this park is to conserve the local varieties of
orchids, flowers, fruits, fish and our colourful ethnic culture and spread
knowledge about them.
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The Park is spread
across 16 bigha of land,
engulfed by hills, tea gardens and dark rainforest. It also has a beautiful
photo gallery of 500 orchids, a seed bank, lake with boating and angling
facilities and small tree-houses, among other attractions. Visitors will not
only be able to see these collections, but also taste juices of local fruits,
pithas (local sweets) and enjoy Borgeet, Xattriya, Bihu dance, Bamboo dance performances as
well.
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The “seed bank” that intends to protect aforementioned local crop species as well related information such as their names in local languages.
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Photo Gallery of 500 Orchids:
Photo Gallery of 500 Orchids:
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Sit in the tree house with a glass of Bhim banana’s juice (extremely nutritious banana, only found in northeast India) or take a cup of bamboo tea, watch the green atmosphere around, feel the touch of the cool, pure breeze, count the varieties of butterflies, just close your eyes and listen to the chirping of the birds, can you imagine how relaxing moment it will be??? Try once..!!!
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Sit in the tree house with a glass of Bhim banana’s juice (extremely nutritious banana, only found in northeast India) or take a cup of bamboo tea, watch the green atmosphere around, feel the touch of the cool, pure breeze, count the varieties of butterflies, just close your eyes and listen to the chirping of the birds, can you imagine how relaxing moment it will be??? Try once..!!!
