Sacred Plants of IndiaPlants personify the divine— The Rig Veda (X.97) Trees and plants have long been held sacred to communities the world over. In India, we have a whole variety of flora that feature in our myths, our epics, our rituals, our worship and our daily life. There is the pipal, under which the Buddha meditated on the path to enlightenment; the banyan, in whose branches hide spirits; the ashoka, in a grove of which Sita sheltered when she was Ravana’s prisoner; the tulsi, without which no Hindu house is considered complete; the bilva, with whose leaves it is possible to inadvertently worship Shiva. Before temples were constructed, trees were open-air shrines sheltering the deity, and many were symbolic of the Buddha himself. Sacred Plants of India systematically lays out the sociocultural roots of the various plants found in the Indian subcontinent, while also asserting their ecological importance to our survival. Informative, thought-provoking and meticulously researched, this book draws on mythology and botany and the ancient religious traditions of India to assemble a detailed and fascinating account of India’s flora. |
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According Alexandrian laurel ancient ashoka tree ashvattha Atharva Veda badari bamboo banyan banyan tree bark believed beneath Bharhut bilva Botanical name Brahma Brahmana branches Buddha Buddhist ceremonies chaitya chaitya vriksha champaka coconut Common names cultivated cure Dastur decoction deity diseases district extracted Figure flowers forest fragrant fruit garlands goddess gods grass grows Habit Hindi Hindu India Indian mesquite Indra Jaina jasmine juice kadamba kalpa vriksha king Krishna kusha Lakshmi leaf leaves lingam Lord Shiva lotus Mahabharata mahua mango mango tree Medicinal Mythological and Religious neem Odisha offered Parvati pipal tree plant Pradesh Rama Ramayana Religious Associations rice Rig Veda ritual root rudraksha S.M. Gupta sacred groves sacred tree Samhita Sanchi Sanskrit says sculptures seeds shami Shanmugam 1989 Shrimad Bhagavatam shrub Sita Soma sthala purana sthala vriksha symbol tamarind Tamil Nadu temple Tirthankara treat Tree Distribution tree worship tropical tulsi turmeric ulcers Vedic village women wood yaksha