Samyuktha Kalingarayar is an expert at creating urban gardens and terrariums. She specializes in creating beautiful lawns, terrace gardens, halls, corridors, and other living spaces embellished with terrariums, moss ball hanging gardens, air plants, miniature garden plants, container garden plants, and wood garden plants. There are also carnivorous plants like the pitcher plants in her creations.

Samyuktha creates succulent gardens too, and she uses old tyres, plastic, porcelain, glass, wood and just about anything that she can lay her hands on. Several institutions like the famous R.V.S of Sulur use her terrariums as mementos and gifts on all occasions.

What exactly is a terrarium?

The 16th century naturalist Natalia Bradshaw Ward used the Wardain Case, made of glass and wood, to transfer plants from one country to another. These cases used to preserve plants in their natural soil. Water had to be sprayed while they were transported in ships, in order to prevent the salty sea breeze from damaging them. Also used were ingredients like charcoal and gravel. This helped the Europeans in successfully transferring plants from place to place.

The concept “Terrarium” was born out of this and is currently being promulgated by Samyuktha in a big way in western Tamilnadu over the last few years. She has held several workshops and exhibitions all over the city. A number of posh households and premium apartments are home to the hundreds of in-door garden pieces lovingly crafted by her.

“I call them ‘Landscape in a Jar,” Samyuktha says. “We have all become urban birds these days and do not have quality time at our disposal. We don’t have plants and greenery in our lives. Even premium apartments and gated houses lack space, hence the need for ready made miniature gardens. I use a lot of recycled stuff like conch shells, tree trunks, coconut shells, wrought iron etc., for creating small gardens.”

“In the case of terrariums, the high humidity plants in the right temperatures can exist in a closed atmosphere. They can survive in its ecosystem with minimum maintenance,” she adds.

Samyuktha Kalingarayar and her husband, Sathguru Marudachalam, reside at Muthukoundanur on the outskirts of Coimbatore, in a sprawling bungalow. The family has several interests, including the M. Nanjappa Chettiar School for children who live in the nearby villages. The family also owns a marriage hall in the locality.

Arunkumar Kalingarayar, Samyuktha’s father, was an avid book collector. As a child she was fascinated by the Encylopaedia of Plants.’

“I was particularly attracted to a picture which showcased a bottle full of plants. As a ten-year-old, I wondered how plants can grow in a glass bottle for it should be challenging to survive without any air circulation. Those days I was too lazy to read, but drawing was something I loved. Soon I began collecting leaves, dried plants, twigs, and palm flowers. Later, I began to collect dry flowers and leaves, colour them, and press them between the pages of the books, in order to make greeting cards,” an energetic Samyuktha says.

The creative spirit in Samyuktha was kindled at the G.D. School at Coimbatore where she learned ‘tie and dye’ technique at a workshop. Eventually she did a two-year diploma in home science, where she picked up the fine art of crochet, knitting, stitching, and stained-glass painting.

Her parents, Seetha and Arunkumar Kalingarayar, encouraged her to pursue a one-year diploma in Interior Design from Bengaluru. Samyuktha was spotted at the campus recruitment programme by the well-known Shapoorji Pallonji, where she further honed her skills in the company’s interior design section for two years. She followed it up with another one-year diploma at Alliance Francais on interior design concepts. She topped her class, thanks to her concept for a restaurant in an aquarium.

“I had to do something everyday or I used to get bored. Post marriage, we moved to Muthukoundanur and I was back to the books on plants. Even when I was pregnant with kids, I used to read those books. Then one day, I joined a three-hour course by Anusha Barbara from Mumbai. It changed my views on gardening for good,” adds the creator of compact urban gardens.

Samyuktha now wants to take these miniature urban gardens to young kids. “Children become more responsible if they take care of their plants. Their minds become clearer and they also imbibe good things early in life,” Sathguru, the educationist and supportive spouse, says.

The couple plans to take this project forward through the creation of museums and restaurants based on their work and themes.