Herbarium at Viharamahadevi Park

Lakshmi DE SILVA

Osu Aramba a herbarium, was installed at the Viharamahadevi Park to conserve indigenous herbal plants and to educate the city dwellers about the value and properties of herbs used both as medicine and food by Sri Lankans for thousands of years, Colombo Municipal Council Ayurvedic Medical Officer C.D. Palitharathna told the Daily News.

Osu Aramba is open to the public only on Saturdays from 10 a.m to 12 noon, but if schools or groups interested in the study of herbs make requests to the Chief Ayurvedic Medical Officer it could be opened at other times too, he said.

A two acre herbarium also has been established by the CMC at Nagaswatta Kirulapona while schools in the city too have been encouraged to grow small herbaria. Today's younger generation are woefully ignorant about herbal plants and their value and a large number of people who suffer from various ailments could have prevented them if they took to eating herbal food like kola kenda in their diets regularly, he said.

Indigenous medical science of our country is more than 5,000 years old coming down from the period of King Ravana was very proficient in it. During the Anuradhapura period King Buddhadasa is said to have been a practicing physician and also a surgeon who made a great contribution to develop indigenous medicine, Dr. Palitharathna said.

Osu Aramba is not only a place to view but a place where you could buy herbal plants, Dr. Palitharathna noted.