The three day long All India Bonsai Convention was inaugurated at the Ganapathy Sacchidananda Ashrama on Nanjangud Road here on Saturday.
Ganapathy Sacchidananda Swamiji inaugurated the convention which is said to be among the biggest Bonsai meets in the country. Experts from both India and abroad have attended the event which will take place over next three days. The exhibition has been organised jointly by Kishkindha Moolika Bonsai Garden, Bonsai Friendship Federation of India, Bonsai Study Group - Indo Japanese Association.
Speaking on the ocassion, Ganapathy Swamiji said the world was moving towards destruction with advancement of technology. “This has given rise to fast pace of life which forces us to cut down trees in the name of development. This disturbs the harmony prevailing in the ecosystem. Today, one can kill millions of people by pressing one button. But, can the same button bring all of them into life?” he asked.
Deliberating further on the bias against Bonsai as a hobby, Swamiji said the art existed even during the prehistoric times. “Bonsai means spinal cord. A lot of meaning is attached to it since the ‘vajrayudha’ used by Lord Indra was the backbone of a sage. This was used to punish the evil,” he said.
Reiterating on saving the plants for future, Swamiji said Bonsai was an effective way of saving the species for the future. “Synthetic is everywhere. There are synthetic fruits, plants and flowers. A day may come when even the children are also synthetic!” he warned.
About 385 plants have been exihibited in all at the convention. People from various Bonsai chapters participated with enthusiasm. Usha Dave had come all the way from Indore, with her team members. Similarly, participants from Coimbatore, Pune, Mumbai, Lucknow, Bhopal, Bangalore and Mysore have exhibited their wares at the convention. Iwasaki of Japan was conferred with ‘Sasya Bandhu’ title. A sovenior was released on the ocassion.
Post Master General Meera Dutta release the first day cover.
Apart from exhibition of some of the rarest Bonsai plants, the convention also includes workshops, sessions around Bonsai and the ‘know-how’s of it and also the sale of selected Bonsai plants at nominal prices. Bonsai experts like I C Su and Min Hsuan Lo of Taiwan, Chase Rosade, Guy Guidry and Solita Tafur Rosade of USA, Budi Solistyo of Indonesia are also present on the ocassion.
