SACRED PLANTS OF DISTRICT KATHUA, J&K

Plants have been intimately associated with mankind even before the beginning of human civilization. The basic necessities of food, shelter and clothing were met from the plants. Even today numerous plants are used by man for various reasons. A number of plants are used to perform religious ceremonies and rituals of different kind everywhere and are thus sacred to mankind. They are so important that the religious rituals cannot be performed without their availability. Pertinent to mention that the leaves and or bark of 108 plants are used for Nakshtar Shanti. Some of the plants of similar kind are mentioned in this study. Because of their sacred nature some plants like Ficus religiosa, Ocimum sanctum, Aegle marmelos, Emblica officinalis received human attention and have well prospered whereas others like Jurinea macrocephala and Eragrostris cynosuroides have been overexploited over the years and the former is definitely facing the threat of extinction in near future