A green initiative of a different kind

Udupi: This temple town took up a campaign in 2018 to disperse seeds of 'Srithale' (Corypha umbraculifera)"Today we are extremely pleased that our campaign has achieved a milestone of dispersing 75,000 seeds of Srithale tree. From the banks of the Cauvery river to the Ganga river in Varanasi.

We did not even plan for this feat of arriving at 75,000 seeds dispersed on the 75th year of freedom of our country, but a couple of days back I calculated the numbers and it had crossed 74,724 seeds and as by providence I had only 250 more seeds-some of them already sprouted into healthy saplings which were distributed in many places in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada" informed Prof. S A Krishnaiah director of the Prachya Sanchaya (oriental Archives) Research Centre based at Udupi. ­"Originally we had planned to disperse the seeds of Srithale between Cauvery to the Godavari, but the encouragement we received from the conservationists, researchers and green activists was so overwhelming that we stretched our resources to reach Varanasi".

Srithale also grows wildly in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and West Bengal and during the growth of Buddhism, it also went into South-Eastern countries. The earliest mention of Srithale is however found in 'Upakathas' of the epic Ramayana. "Tamil Nadu even today holds the largest numbers of Srithale trees which number at 12,000. What is more important is that Srithale has a unique type of leaf.

When treated with a mixture of herbs they become extremely long-lasting. The original manuscripts Kautilya's (Vishnu Gupta) 'Arthashastra' which is engraved on Srithale leaves dating back to 314 BC is still preserved in Oriental Institute of Research (ORI)in Mysuru. I do not think any modern storage devices or instruments will last that long. So if we are serious about saving the art of palm leaf engraving, conservation and protection of Srithale tree gains prominence" Krishnaiah says. This temple town which is known to be the world headquarters of Dwaitha philosophy among the three ancient philosophies of Advaita (Adi Shankara) Dwaitha (Madhwacharya) and Vishitadwaita (Ramanujachrya) is now making heroic efforts to save the last bastion of the ancient art of 'Thaale Gari' inscriptions (palm leaf engraving) from extinction.

The 'Srithale' tree is the only tree for raw material for palm leaf engraving. Commonly known as the talipot palm. "This is a species of palm- native to eastern and southern India and Sri Lanka. It is also grown in Cambodia, Myanmar, China, Thailand and the Andaman Islands. It is a flowering plant with the largest inflorescence in the world. But due to some superstitions numbers in India particularly on the Coast of Karnataka, these trees are cut down once they flower. The superstition is woven around an unfounded story that a flowering Srithale tree carries a bad omen, and the event of flowering will be followed by the death of an important elder belonging to the immediate vicinity of the tree.

The numbers of this important tree have dwindled drastically and no impactful conservation efforts have been made till now". Prof. S Krishnaiah told The Hans India. The conservation got good traction after two prominent Swamiji's Vishwaprasanna Thirtha of Udupi Pejavar Mutt and Charukirti Panditacharyavara Bhattaraka Swamiji Jain mutt of Moodbidri had encouraged me to take up this campaign Prof Krishnaiah stated.