Putturu: The medicinal garden of Deyi Baidethi, mother of Koti Chennaiah has come back to life once again with around 500 varieties of medicinal plants at Mudipinadka near Padumale in Putturu taluk. It is the birth place of Tulunadu’s legendary war heroes are Koti and Chennaiah.
The garden, at Badagannur at the foothills of the Padumale range in the Western Ghats, is where Deyi Baidethi is believed to have run her herbal dispensary in the 16th century.
If one travels from Kowdichar on Puttur-Sullia state highway towards Mudipinadka, one can see the garden from a distance. The four century old garden has served generation of healers.
Elders say, as recently as the 1980s, traditional healers used to forage for medicinal plants on this hill. The healers prayed and thanked Deyi Baidethi for the bounty she left behind.
Last year, state forest minister B. Ramanth Rai allotted Rs 54 lakhs from the forest department to inject fresh life into the garden which was destroyed in a forest fire during 1990. After leveling the surface, saplings were planted in an area covering 9.15 acres.
The entire garden is split into nine parts with each sector dedicated for specific purpose like astrology, primary health care, jasmine garden, Bamboo garden, Deity assembly garden, altogether nine in total. Some feel, this is done taking into account nine planets which revolve round the Sun. Around each zodiac sign plant there are three star plants. One can witness due importance being given to herbs, rituals, religious beliefs, folk practices and even modern science.
The entire garden is fenced and a bore well is provided to water plants during summer days. The entrance of the garden looks very attractive with statues of mother Deyi and her sons Koti and Chennaiah.
One can find a dome shaped structure which works as an information centre and a watch tower at the edge of the garden is an added feature in the spacious medicinal garden.
In Badagannur at the foothills of Padumalai range (Shankapala hills) in the Western Ghats, a new community centre will be established.
More about Deyi, Mother of Koti and Chenniah
The project is one of the largest to restore the folk culture of coastal Karnataka. Tuluvas feel the garden has done justice to Koti and Chennaiah, who fought for justice and Deyi, their self-sacrificing mother.
Legend goes that beautiful Deyi was cared for by a Brahmin family, which abandoned her due to social customs that say a girl should not attain puberty before marriage. She was rescued and adopted by Sayana Baide, a healer who taught her how to raise a medicinal garden.
Deyi Baidethi, eventually married and later she healed King Perumala Ballala of a painful ailment. In gratitude, he adopted her twin children Koti and Chennaiah, who grew up into fearless heroes known for their sense of justice.
