Nakshatra Van

The Jharkhand Forest Department created Nakshatra Van, a park in Ranchi, in front of the Governor's residence. Its name points to Hindu astrology, in which each constellation of the zodiac is linked with a particular tree. Nakshatras are the 27 or 28 sections of the sky crossed by the Moon each month.

L. K. Advani, then Deputy Prime Minister, laid the foundation stone in 2002 and planted a vikankat that day. The Social Forestry Division planned the park, with officials studying a Zodiac Park in Bangalore and consulting the Indian Institute of Astro-Physics. After about two years of work, Governor M. Rama Jois inaugurated it in 2004 at a Van Mahotsav programme, and the Jharkhand State Forest Development Corporation took over its management the same year.