The 20-acre Hortus Malabaricus at Cheruthuruthy, Thrissur, is a lush green park featuring over 50 organically grown vegetables, various types of bananas, Andaman palms, old cycads, different palm species, and 25 kinds of pepper. It also hosts migratory birds, rare insects, and other wildlife.
The park serves as a living chronicle of the book 'Hortus Malabaricus,' authored by Dutch military commander and botanist Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede. Van Rheede. meticulously documented the medicinal plants and flora of the Malabar coast. The garden brings this historic work to life, preserving over 1,200 plant species, including 720 of the 742 featured in van Rheede’s treatise.
The garden showcases the state's indigenous medicinal plants and the distinctive biodiversity of the Western Ghats. It was created by the SciGenom Research Foundation (SGRF), a non-profit organization founded in 2010 by Sam Santhosh, an NRI from Thrissur. The garden was formally inaugurated on January 27th Minister for Local Self-governments, Kerala, M B Rajesh.
