Author: Tista Dutta
DOI Link: https://doi.org/10.70798/Bijmrd/04010029
Abstract: This article examined the traditional role of sacred and ritual plants in Bengal’s Hindu ceremonies, focusing on their cultural symbolism, ritual usage, and implications for biodiversity conservation. Using published ethnobotanical surveys, festival-focused studies and regional analyses of sacred groves and community practices, the study documented the recurrent use of species such as Ocimumtenuiflorum (tulsi), Aeglemarmelos (bel), Tagetes spp. (marigold), Polianthestuberosa (tuberose/rajnigandha), Nyctanthesarbortristis (shiuli), Nelumbonucifera (lotus) and others that had historically been embedded in domestic and public religious practice. The research argued that ritual plant use had functioned as a cultural mechanism for preserving particular species and ecological niches (for example, sacred groves), while simultaneously adapting to socio-economic and urbanizing pressures that altered availability, symbolism and procurement methods. Ethnographic and ecological documentation suggested that ritual practice had both conserved and commodified certain species: some plants had been maintained in home gardens and groves, whereas others had entered market chains for festival demand. The article concluded that recognition of ritual plant-culture linkages was essential for culturally informed conservation and that participatory strategies which acknowledged ritual importance had been effective levers for in-situ biodiversity protection.
Keywords: Sacred Flora, West Bengal, Hindu Rituals, Traditional Plant Use, Marigold, Tuberose, Tulsi, Bel, Ethnobotany, Cultural Heritage, Sacred Groves, Ritual Ecology, Biodiversity Conservation.
Page No: 219-225