Abstract

INVENTORIZATION OF ETHNOSACRED PLANTS OF KISHTWAR DISTRICT

Humeera Ayub, Touseef Hussain Trak*, Ravi Upadhayay.

Abstract

Kishtwar district, popularly known as “Land of Sapphire and Saffron” the place which is diverse of all forms it harbors. People of this district are highly religious and believe in variety of rituals related to God worships which are performed in various ways, in every year by the people in which plants or their part have their vital role. The present paper aimed to document 16 sacred plant species belonging to 16 different families. During research work, the sacred plants are observed and documented from different religious places of Kishtwar district Jammu and Kashmir, India viz. Hur Astan, Bun Astan, Shiv Mandir, Ram Mandir, Sarthal Mandir, Dooga Astan, Gori Shankar Mandir (Sarkoot), Neelkanth Mandir, Bandarkoot Astan respectively. The investigations revealed that different type of these religious places are covered with important ethnosacred plant species like Ficus religiosa L., Plantago major L., Artemisia maritema L., Alnus nitida Endl., Quercu sincana Roxb., Clematis buchananiana DC., Betula utilis Don., etc.

Keywords: Inventorization; Sacred plants; Kishtwar; Ethnobotany.