The Maharishi Charaka Medicinal Plant Garden was inaugurated at the Institute of Advanced Study in Science and Technology (IASST), Guwahati, an autonomous institute under Department of Science and Technology, on 17th August 2022,

“The medicinal plant garden would create awareness among visitors, students, farmers, and others about the conservation and traditional uses of herbs and medicinal plants and can help them learn how to identify and conserve these important medicinal plants,” said Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST),  Dr. Srivari Chandrasekhar while inaugurating the park.

The garden is a rich repository of fifty-three different medicinal plant species based on Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM). Many of them are highly abundant in the NER region of India. Named after Maharishi Charaka to recognize his mammoth contribution to Indian medicinal plants and Ayurveda, the garden will conserve Nature's Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN), including the medicinal plants that are on the way to extinction.

The knowledge of the development of ideas related to the usage of medicinal plants with awareness will increase the ability to combat the challenges encountered by healthcare professionals. On this occasion, Dr. Chandrasekhar also planted a medicinal plant in the garden.

Healing with medicinal plants is an old treatment method as old as humanity itself. Contemporary science has also been acknowledged and considered in modern pharmacotherapy the active actions of plant-origin drugs, known by ancient civilizations and used throughout the millennia.

Prof. Ashis Mukherjee, Director, IASST, said that the garden would serve as a learning center to study the economic and therapeutic value of traditional medicinal plants. The inauguration was attended by faculty members, staff, and research scholars of IASST.