Sacred Groves - a rich abode of biodiversity in Kerala; now on the verge of extinction.

- stated a report over a year ago in March 2015, prepared by a Committee chaired by State Minister for Forest, Sports and Cinema Thiruvanchur Radhakrishnan, which was tabled in the ongoing Assembly session then.

The report went on to state that , 'the sprawling patches of sacred groves; the rich abode of biodiversity seen in and around villages across Kerala, are on the verge of extinction due to large-scale construction following demographic changes.'

'Known as 'sarpakavu' or 'kavu' in local parlance, sacred groves are traditional places of worship with some of them having idols of snakes and goddesses.'

'The increase in number of construction of new buildings in the place of ancestral homes, which used to house sacred groves in their premises, have virtually led to the destruction of this biodiversity system.'
 
'The report also said indiscriminate grazing in the last few decades, uncontrolled felling of trees for firewood and changes in the pattern of worship (from nature worship to temple) have also contributed to the dwindling of groves.'

'Groves are home to a large number of rare flora and fauna, including those facing extinction threat. As many as 475 species of birds, 100 species of mammals, 156 species of reptiles, 91 species of amphibians, 196 species of fishes and 150 varieties of butterflies can be seen in the groves in the state.'

'Though there were about 10,000 groves in the princely state of Travancore before the formation of Kerala, only  1,200 of them remain now.'

'Coastal district Alappuzha has the highest number of groves, while high-range districts of Idukki and Wayanad have the lowest number.' 

'Iringorkavu", spread over 2.5 acres in Perumbavur in Ernakulam district, is the largest grove in the state.' it said.'

Some Observations:
1. The report failed to mention a law - 'The Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975' which wrought havoc in joint Hindu families who were conserving most of the sacred groves and the flora and fauna in them, in Kerala. Partition deeds for share of the lands to be given to each family member- increased- much more than the species existing in these sacred groves.

2. Sacred Groves are precious assets. Only those who have worshipped in these glorious places can preserve them through traditional practices distilled with their rich traditional knowledge of nature.

3. Traditional knowledge which was passed from generation to generation mostly through women of the families was cruelly disrupted. 

4. Close relationships within most families were broken through 'The Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975' law which only encouraged conflict between members to battle each other in courts of law.  

5. All sorts of predators... still prowl around vulnerable family members to draw one into ...prolonged court cases 

6.The snakes in the Hindu sacred groves were more trustworthy, dependable... than these *vile predators*.

7. The pattern of worship from nature to temples (that are now *controlled* by the Government (via the various Devaswom boards) bringing in much money (?) was a corollary.

8.The Marumakkathayam Law which gave inalienable rights to property and right to matrilocality to girls protecting them in the eventuality of a serious mental illness disability was abolished too as it is mentioned in 'The Kerala Joint Hindu Family System (Abolition) Act, 1975'

9. So many women with serious mental illness disability who could heal in the environment of the quiet peaceful rich sacred groves in Kerala were adversely impacted which is strangely overlooked by ...academics, historians.

Whole Genome Sequencing of Ocimum sanctum - Holy Basil by CSIR

- A First Step to unravel the Secrets of its Therapeutic Potential 
 
The *Krishna Thulasi* another aromatic variety of Ocinum sanctum has dark blue purple pigments ... used for worship and therapeutic purposes.

Plucked Leaves of *Krishna Thulasi* - Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

A recent report by the Press Bureau Information reported that the whole genome sequence of Ocinum sanctum - Holy Basil was sequenced through technologies The report is given below.

CSIR - Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (CSIR-CIMAP), Lucknow, has published whole genome sequence of Ocimum sanctum, the wonder plant ‘Holy basil’ or ‘Tulsi’, which is revered as ‘Vishnupriya’ and worshipped for over more than 3000 years through the sacred traditions of Hindu culture. This is the first report of complete genome sequence of a traditional and most respected medicinal plant of India, using a composite next generation sequencing technologies.

Considering the metabolic and therapeutic potential of this revered plant, the availability of whole genome sequence is the first step to understand and unravel the secrets of this ‘mother of all herbs’ and to provide scientific validity to the traditional claims of its utility in diverse medicinal usage.

Being the most popular household plant in India, ‘Holi basil’ or ‘Tulsi’ is traditionally used for the cure of several ailments. This herb is described as “The Queen of Herbs,” “The Incomparable One” and “The Mother Medicine of Nature” in the Ayurvedic text of Charaka Samhita. All parts of this legendary, divine and most cherished ancient herb (dried leaf, dried seed, and dried whole plant) are used in several systems of traditional medicine, including Ayurveda, Greek, Roman, Siddha, and Unani. It is used in the preparations to cure various diseases like bronchitis, bronchial asthma, malaria, diarrhea, dysentery, skin diseases, arthritis, painful eye diseases, chronic fever, insect bite etc. It has also been described to possess anti-fertility, anti-cancer, anti-diabetic, anti-fungal, anti-microbial, hepatoprotective, cardioprotective, anti-emetic, anti-spasmodic, analgesic, adaptogenic and diaphoretic actions. Many of the basil oil constituents have found applications as medicinal ingredients, flavors, fragrance, etc.

‘Holi basil’ or ‘Tulsi’ is rich in phenylpropanoids, terpenoids and their derivatives, and many of these are implicated for different therapeutic activities. The availability of the genome sequence now opens the possibility to identify genes involved in producing therapeutic molecules and to produce them in vitro. This will also facilitate identification of not yet identified genes involved in the synthesis of important secondary metabolites in this plant. Specific pathway related genes identified or mined in this genome could be used for the production of secondary metabolites following synthetic biology approaches. The development of molecular tools and genomic resources will accelerate molecular breeding and ultimately the utility of Holy basil in medical community.

The nuclear genome of Holy basil is the smallest (386 Mb) in the family Lamiaceae while the chloroplast genome (142,245 bp) is the smallest in the order Lamiales. According to the chloroplast genome similarity, O. sanctum shows maximum evolutionary closeness to Salvia miltiorrhiza, a plant of Chinese system of traditional medicine. Although, both these plants predominantly produce phenylpropanoids, and both have the identical diploid number of chromosomes (2n = 16), the genome size of O. sanctum (386 Mb) is a little more than half of the genome size of S. miltiorrhiza indicating that O. sanctum genome is more compact than that of S. miltiorrhiza.

Published on May 28, 2015 in BMC Genomics (2015) 16:413 [DOI 10.1186/s12864-015-1640-z]. 

For further details on this development, please contact the Corresponding Author: Dr Ajit Kumar Shasany (Mobile number 09415027245) 

Reference:
Press Information Bureau 

Miniature ecosystems like Lichens need clean air...

...are very sensitive to pollution.

Lichens are ecosystems of algae fungi microbes insects, live long for years; can survive inhospitable conditions like periods of drought, but not pollution in the air. 

Bark of Azardicta Indica (Neem) with lichens in a homestead in Thiruvananthapuram

Cat napping with Lichens on a tiled roof of an old house in Thiruvananthapuram

Some of the chemicals in air particulates which destroy lichens are Nitrogen di oxide, Sulphur di oxide, Hydrogen Fluoride, Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PANs), metals like nickel cadmium iron lead emitted by smelters and mines, radioactive elements…

Parmelia perlata,the stone flower lichen known as Kalpoovu in Malayalam, Shilapushp in Sanskrit is used as a spice in cooking and in many kashayams (concoctions of various ingredients) in many homes - some where traditional knowledge was passed from grandmothers, mothers to daughters.

Parmelia perlata was a common sight growing on rocks, stones… under the shade of the tall Artocarpus hirsutus trees in the sacred Hindu groves of many homesteads in Kerala.

Parmelia Perlata is now found mostly in the forests.