Varanasi,

25 June (HS): The Department of Botany of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) has

achieved a significant milestone. The department has developed a backyard

garden and glass house facility. This newly developed site serves as a research

centre and living classroom, enriching botanical education and conservation

efforts. A cryptogamic gallery is also being set up under this, which will have

arrangements for the study and display of non-flowering plants like algae,

fungi, bryophytes and pteridophytes.

Dean,

Institute of Science Prof. S. K. Upadhyay inaugurated it and dedicated it to

the students and research scholars. According to Prof. Upadhyay, one of the

most valuable assets of the department is the herbarium of national importance,

which has been recently renovated. It contains thousands of preserved plant

specimens, including many rare and historical collections collected over a

period of more than a hundred years. This herbarium is regularly visited and

appreciated by researchers, school groups and scholars from India and abroad

and is an important resource for interdisciplinary research. Currently, it is

being digitized so that it can develop as a globally accessible digital

structure. Postgraduate teaching in Botany at BHU was started in 1919 under the

leadership of Professor Birbal Sahni, F.R.S., who laid the foundation of a rich

tradition of botanical education and research in India. Over time, the

department was headed by Prof. Y. Bhardwaj, Prof. R. Mishra and Prof. R.N. Singh,

who established internationally renowned research institutions in the field of

algology and ecology. An important milestone in the early history of the

department was the award of D.Sc. degree in Botany to Dr. B.N. Singh in 1927.

Hindusthan Samachar / Abhishek Awasthi