COVID-19: 'Shuka Vana' Birds Museum at Ganapathy Sachidananda Ashram closed for 15 days
Mysuru/UNI: The 'Shuka Vana' (Parrots Museum), in the sprawling Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashrama here, will remain closed for 15 days from March 9 as precautionary measure following COVID-19, Ashram authorities said here on Sunday.
Ashram authorities told UNI that the Museum will be closed due to threat of spread of Cornonavirus. This is for the first time that the Museum has been closed for such a long time earlier it had closed for one or two days due to bird flu. The decision has been taken following the tourists and devotees including foreigners are arriving to Ashram in large numbers.
The ashram authorities have also closed famous The Kishkinda Moolika Bonsai garden in premises for same reason.
The 'Shuka Vana' consists of Amazon parrots of about 468 species of birds, fly around the 60-foot-tall free-flight aviary, once in a while swooping down for a peck at foods brought in by visitors.
“Some birds, such as sun conures, usually don’t come close to humans, so it is surprising that they approach visitors fearlessly here. The birds know they are in safe hands," they said.
'Shuka Vana' has entered the Guinness book of World Records for housing the largest number of bird species in an aviary. The certificate was presented to the Swami this May in 2017. And with its formidable diversity of birds, and 2,200 individual birds, the aviary has turned into an education Centre of Sorts for children.
Shuka Vana started out as a rehabilitation centre, providing veterinary care and shelter to injured and ailing birds. The number grew from a few dozen to a few hundreds and then to over 2,000 birds from South America, Indonesia, Australia, Solomon Islands and the Philippines.
The centre is state-of-the-art: equipped with an X-ray machine, operation theatre, DNA laboratory, blood testing facility and an isolation unit for infected birds. Veterinarians visit twice a day, there’s even a ‘play section’ where each recuperating bird gets wooden toys. Their food is equally extensive: fruits, sprouts, vegetables, nuts, sweet corn and sugarcane.
Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda Swamiji has also been promoting Bonsai cultivation. The Kishkinda Moolika Bonsai garden at the ashram has an exquisite collection of more than 450 carefully shaped bonsai trees which have been aesthetically displayed.
The Ashram has also entered the Guinness Book of World Records for displaying the largest number of Bonsai collection (2649 trees).
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