Page 7 - BSAM 2017 Q1

DIVERSITY
Temple. Bylekuppe, the second largest Tibetan settle- ment outside of Tibet, complete with Tibetan monas- tery with 7,000 monks, a Tibetan village and market. Abbey Falls, Raja’s Seat watching the sun set, Madikeri Fort, Madikeri Spice Market and Spice Garden, Cau- very Nisargadhama, Golden Temple and Dubare El- ephant Camp. On route to Mysore we also visited the Somanathpura Temple.
On arriving in Mysore the evening before the event we were able to look at our demonstration material. All plants used for demonstrations and workshops is nurs- ery-grown. No yamadori (trees from the wild) materi- als were used at this event with a view to protect nature.
e venue was the Avadhoota Datta Peetham. e host and founder of the Ashram is Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji.
Over 400 delegates attended from Australia, Japan, USA, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Oman and Sri Lanka as well as locals from all over India.
e Ashram is home to Kishkinda Moolika Bonsai Garden which houses a large bonsai collection of around 300 bonsai. e Swami also established Shuka Vana, a rehabilitation centre for birds, housing more
Top left inset and middle left;
Shuka Vana (Parrot Park), is a rehabilitation centre for birds in the serene premises of Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashrama. This park has numerous rare and colorful species of Parrots from the world over.
Top right inset; The Kishkindha Moolika Garden is a testimony to the love and care His Holiness Sri Swamiji has for nature and ecology. Swamiji along with Jyoti and Nikunj Parekh with Sujata Bhat and Chand Kejriwal beside a very old Pemphis acidula bonsai.
Bottom; Unique inaugural was conducted by watering a Ficus Bonsai.
January/February/March 2017 | BCI | 5