Role of Plants Used in Religious and Cultural System by Local Inhabitants of Sacred Forests of district Pithoragarh, Kumaun Himalaya

ABSTRACT Sacred natural sites are part of a broader set of cultural values that different social groups, traditions, beliefs or value systems attach to places and which ‘fulfil humankind’s need to understand, and connect in meaningful ways, to the environment of its origin and to nature’. The study was conducted in 6 sacred forests located in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand state, India. The approximate area of the six sacred forests ranges from 120 -195 ha and are located at an elevation range of 1497-2603 m above sea level. Survey was done during year 2015. In order to achieve authentic information, an extensive dialogue with the inhabitants of Villages around sacred forests conducted using Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools. The present study compiles 17 religious plant species belonging to 14 families (13 Angiosperms and 1 Gymnosperms) used by local inhabitants round sacred forests, Pithoragarh. Within the documented species tree(53%) cover the maximum number of species followed by shrubs(29%) and Herbs (18%). present studies shows percentage of plant part used fruit (28%), leaf(28%), stem(19%),seed(5%),whole plant (5%), Rhizome(5%),Flower (5%) and Inflorescence (5%) by local peoples. Keywords: Sacred Forests, Sacred plants, Kumaun Himalaya, Religious belief. REFERENCES Silverman, D. 2005. Doing Qualitative Research: A Practical Handbook. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, London, UK. Osmaston, A.E. 1927. A forest flora for Kumaun. International Book Distributors, Dehradun, pp 605. Gupta, R.K. 1968. Flora Nainitalensis: A Handbook of the flowering plants of Nainital. Navayug Traders, New Delhi. Naithani, B.D. 1984-1985. Flora of Chamoli. Vols. I–II. Botanical Survey of India, Calcutta. Gaur, R.D. 1999. Flora of the District Garhwal Northwest Himalayas (With Ethnobotanical Notes). Transmedia: Srinagar, Garhwal. Oviedo, G. and Jeanrenaud, S. (2007) ‘Protecting sacred natural sites of indigenous and traditional peoples’, in Mallarach, J.M. and Papayannis, T. (eds) (2007) Protected Areas and Spirituality, IUCN and Publications de l’Abadia de Montserrat, Gland, Switzerland Putney, A. (2005) ‘Building cultural support for protected areas through sacred natural sites’, in McNeely, J. (2005) Friends for Life, IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge. Rao. P. (1996). Sacred groves and conservation. WWF-india Quarterly 7: 4-8, 1996 UNDRIP (2007) ‘Declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples, United Nations’, General Assembly, 61st session, agenda item 68, Report of the Human Rights Council Singh Harsh (2011). Floristic Diversity of Sacred Groves of Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand. Ph.D Thesis submitted to Kumaun University Nainital. Ward and Conne (1927).Memmoirs of the survey of Travancore and cochin states.cited from census report of Travancore, 1891 Dhaila-Adhikari S & Adhikari B S (2007).Veneration of deity by restoration of sacred grove in village Minar, Kumsun region of Uttarakhand :A case study. Journal of American Science 3(2):45-49. Anthwal Ashish., Gupta Nutan, Sharma Archana, Anthwal Smriti and Kim Ki-Hyun (2010).Conserving biodiversity through traditional beliefs in sacred groves in Uttarakhand Himalaya, India. Resources, Conservation and Recycaling,54, 962-971. Mehra A, Bajpai O & Joshi H (2014) Diversity, utilization and sacred values of Ethno-medicinal plants of Kumaun Himalaya. Tropical Plant Research 1(3): 80–86 Ghanashyam Niroula1 and N.B Singh, ( 2015) Religion and Conservation: A Review of Use and Protection of Sacred Plants and Animals in Nepal, Journal of Institute of Science and Technology, , 20(2): 61-66, © IOST, Tribhuvan University. Pangtey YPS (1980) Some Wild Edible Fruit Plants of Kumaun Hills In: Singh JS, Singh SP & Shastri C (eds) Science and Rural Development in Mountains. Gyanodaya Publication, Nainital. Sateesh Pujari and Estari Mamidala (2015). Anti-diabetic activity of Physagulin-F isolated from Physalis angulata fruits. The Ame J Sci & Med Res, 2015,1(1):53-60 Sharma V. Joshi B.D. (2010), Role of sacred plants in religious and health care system of local people of Almora distict of Uttarakhand State (India), Academica Arena;2(6).pp 19-22 Pandey.N.C., Joshi G.C., Tewari L.M.(2016), Ethnobotanical plant diversity of Betalghat region of Kumaun Himalaya. Biolife 4(4). Pp 629-649