Sacred Plants of India
Sacred Plants of India

Author: Nanditha Krishna

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2014-05-15

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 9351186911

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Plants 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.

Sacred Plants of India
Sacred Plants of India

Author: Nanditha Krishna

Publisher: Penguin Enterprise

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9780143066262

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Annotation. Trees and plants have long been held sacred to communities the world over. In India they feature in our myths, epics, rituals, worship, and daily life. There is the pipal, under which the Buddha editated; the banyan, in whose branches hide spirits; the ashoka, in a grove of which Sita sheltered; and the tulsi, without which no Hindu house is considered complete. Before temples were constructed, trees were open-air shrines and many were symbolic of the Buddha himself.Sacred Plants of India lays out the sociocultural roots of the plants found in the Indian subcontinent, while asserting their ecological importance. Informative, thought-provoking, and meticulously researched, this book draws on mythology, botany, and the ancient religious traditions of India to assemble a fascinating account of India's flora.

Sacred Animals of India
Sacred Animals of India

Author: Nanditha Krishna

Publisher: Penguin UK

Published: 2014-05-01

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 8184751826

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Animals are worshipped in India in many ways: as deities—the elephant-god Ganesha and the monkey-god Hanuman; as avatars—like Vishnu’s fish, tortoise and boar forms; and as vahanas—the swan, bull, lion and tiger were all vehicles of major deities and are thus sacred by association. Some animals, like the snake, are worshipped out of fear. Birds such as the crow are associated with the abode of the dead, or the souls of ancestors, while the cow’s sanctity may derive from its economic value. There are also hero-animals, such as the vanaras, and animals which were totemic symbols of tribes that were assimilated into Vedic Hinduism. Sacred Animals of India draws on the ancient religious traditions of India—Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism—to explore the customs and practices that engendered the veneration of animals in India. This book also examines the traditions that gave animals in India protection, and is a reminder of the role of animal species in the earth’s biodiversity.

Plants of Life, Plants of Death
Plants of Life, Plants of Death

Author: Frederick J. Simoons

Publisher: Univ of Wisconsin Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 596

ISBN-13: 9780299159047

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This study examines plants associated with ritual purity, fertility, prosperity and life, and plants associated with ritual impurity, sickness, ill fate and death. It provides detail from history, ethnography, religious studies, classics, folklore, ethnobotany and medicine.

Sacred Plants and Their Medicinal Uses
Sacred Plants and Their Medicinal Uses

Author: Anil Kumar Dhiman

Publisher: Daya Books

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 280

ISBN-13: 9788170353232

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Tree Or Plant Worship Or The Worship Using Plant S Parts Is One Of The Earliest Forms Of Religions In Ancient World. It Was Through The Worship Of The Plants Or Trees That Man Attempted To Approach And Propitiate The God. Before Man Developed Agriculture, He Lived Mostly On Fruits And Nuts Of The Plants. He Used Their Implements For Peace And War. He Used Their Implements For Peace And War. It Was From Wood That He Obtained Fire To Cook His Food And To Warm His Cave Dwellings Apart From The Beauty Of Their Flowers, Which Excited His Imagination. It Was Beneficial Influence Of The Trees That Prompted Our Remote Ancestors To Worship Them. The Earliest Form Of Worship Was Probably The Veneration Of The Mother Goddess, The Earth Mother. Fertility, Creation And The World Of Plants And Animals Were Her Blessings To Her Devotees. The Worship Of The Tree Would Have Originated Somewhere At This Time As The Adoration Of Her Creative Abilities, Symbolizing Fertility So Essential To The Survival Of Early People. Tree Worship Is Found In Various Societies World Over, Especially In India. Besides, There Is A Belief That The Plants, Which Are Sacred Or Being Worshipped That Have The Medicinal Potential Too. The Present Book On Sacred Plants And Their Medicinal Uses Is An Attempt To Provide A Comprehensive Account On Some Of The Important Plants, Which Are Not Only Being Used In Sacrificial Rites And Rituals Dealing With Cultural Heritage, Festivals, And Religious Ceremonies Standing From Birth Till Death But Also In Medicine, Particularly In India. It Is Hoped That This Book Will Be Useful For Research Workers Working In The Field Of Ancient History, Ancient Literature, Botany And Medical Sciences Besides, The General Layman Interested In The Sacred Use Of Plants. Contents Chapter 1: Introduction; Chapter 2: Discussion Of Plants.

Nine Lives
Nine Lives

Author: William Dalrymple

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2010-06-07

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1408801248

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A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet - then spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the violence by hand printing the best prayer flags in India. A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her best friend ritually starve herself to death. Nine people, nine lives; each one taking a different religious path, each one an unforgettable story. William Dalrymple delves deep into the heart of a nation torn between the relentless onslaught of modernity and the ancient traditions that endure to this day. LONGLISTED FOR THE BBC SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE

Sacred Groves and Local Gods
Sacred Groves and Local Gods

Author: Eliza F. Kent

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2013-03-26

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 0199895473

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In recent years, India's "sacred groves," small forests or stands of trees set aside for a deity's exclusive use, have attracted the attention of NGOs, botanists, specialists in traditional medicine, and anthropologists. Environmentalists disillusioned by the failures of massive state-sponsored solutions to ecological problems have hailed them as an exemplary form of traditional community resource management. For in spite of pressures to utilize their trees for fodder, housing, and firewood, the religious taboos surrounding sacred groves have led to the conservation of pockets of abundant flora in areas otherwise denuded by deforestation. Drawing on fieldwork conducted in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu over seven years, Eliza F. Kent offers a compelling examination of the religious and social context in which sacred groves take on meaning for the villagers who maintain them, and shows how they have become objects of fascination and hope for Indian environmentalists. Sacred Groves and Local Gods traces a journey through Tamil Nadu, exploring how the localized meanings attached to forested shrines are changing under the impact of globalization and economic liberalization. Confounding simplistic representations of sacred groves as sites of a primitive form of nature worship, the book shows how local practices and beliefs regarding sacred groves are at once more imaginative, dynamic, and pragmatic than previously thought. Kent argues that rather than being ancient in origin, as has been asserted by other scholars, the religious beliefs, practices, and iconography found in sacred groves suggest origins in the politically de-centered eighteenth century, when the Tamil country was effectively ruled by local chieftains. She analyzes two projects undertaken by environmentalists that seek to harness the traditions surrounding sacred groves in the service of forest restoration and environmental education.