Abstract
This chapter presents a study of the holy trees of Gairsain eco-region of district Chamoli of Uttarakhand. These trees are regarded as god’s tree and worshiped by the local inhabitants for propitiating the wishes of the latter. This is an implied technique of conservation and regeneration of ecologically and economically valued plants. A total of 18 tree species belonging to 14 genera of 11 families were recorded as god’s trees in the 61 surveyed villages of the region. Nearly six trees per village were found which are considered as god’s trees and worshiped during the different occasions. Quercus leucotrichophora, Prunus cerasoides, Celtis australis and Myrica esculenta are some of the prominent god’s trees. All gods’ trees are highly valued in all domains of life. The data were collected through extensive and intensive interviews with olden local people and pujaaris or priests during 2014–2016. Unfortunately, all these trees and practices are under severe threat and diminishing in number in the process of modernization of culture.
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The authors are grateful to the inhabitants of the Gairsain region for their kind cooperation and sharing the valuable information during the study.
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Bhatt, V.P., Rawat, D.S. (2020). God’s Tree: A Culturally Coded Strategy for Conservation (A Case Study of Gairsain Ecoregion of District Chamoli, Uttarakhand). In: Khasim, S.M., Long, C., Thammasiri, K., Lutken, H. (eds) Medicinal Plants: Biodiversity, Sustainable Utilization and Conservation. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1636-8_13
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