Sacred Plants and their Medicinal Uses

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.