Green the Ashram, Save the Village

The Sambodh Centre for Living Values (SCLV) lies in Sunkatanahalli village, Doddaballapur, on the outskirts of Bengaluru. “Green the Ashram, Save the Village” is its project to restore the land's ecology and to show the village what a living, green landscape can give back.

Why the project

As industry spreads around Doddaballapur, there is a real danger that the area will change from a green belt into a yellow belt. Eucalyptus monoculture has drained the soil of its fertility, and there has been little interest in harvesting rainwater. The project answers this by planting, conserving and teaching — beginning at the ashram and reaching out to the village.

What it sets out to do

• Show the value of preserving natural ecology — planting a hundred trees for every tree felled.
• Grow indigenous fruit and flowering trees, a medicinal herbal garden, and a sacred grove (kavu) as a home for birds and animals.
• Explore livelihoods from tree produce and small enterprises, such as weaving baskets from shrub twigs.
• Develop educational programmes drawn from traditional knowledge of plants and the land.

The work so far

The first phase planted about a thousand indigenous fruit and flowering trees and began a herbal garden, with the help of a Bengaluru NGO. Today SCLV conserves more than five hundred medicinal and indigenous trees and fifteen varieties of fruit trees, with organic farming of corn, millets and vegetables, a goshala, and a Nakshatra Vanam — an ethno-medical garden. The planting continues.

Plant a tree

You can join the project by sponsoring trees — in sets of twenty or a hundred — and may ask for particular species of trees or herbs to be planted. You are also welcome to come and volunteer on the land, in the planting and in organic farming. Contributions to Sambodh Foundation are eligible for income-tax exemption under Section 80-G.

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