Earlier this winter, seventy new medicinal plants were sown in the garden of Naulakha Bagh in Kiratpur Sahib, Punjab, along the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. As aged fingers reached down through the dirt to create space for young saplings, this group of Sikh elders revived a centuries old tradition of planting culturally important plants at historic Sikh sites.

In fact, it was on this ground that five centuries earlier, the seventh Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Har Rai Ji, established a wildlife sanctuary and planted flowers, medicinal herbs, and fruit-bearing trees. According to Sikh tradition these efforts created a salubrious environment, attracting birds and animals to the town and turning it into an idyllic place to live. Naulakha Bagh became famous for wide varieties of rare medicinal herbs, and as memories recount, event the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan sought medicine from Guru Har Rai Ji for curing his son, Dara Shikoh.

To honor the Sikh tradition of preserving ‘Mata Dharat’ (Mother Earth), Sikhs will host a week of celebrations for ‘Sikh Vatavaran Diwas’ (Environment Day) the third week of March, which also corresponds to the New Year in the Sikh Nanakshahi calendar. The environmental celebrations… Read the rest @ HuffingtonPost.com