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Introduction

Medicinal plants have always been the principle sources of medicine in worldwide through centuries compared to allopathic medicine.  Ayurvedic medicine focuses on the root cause of disease with no or limited side effects.  Ayurvedic medicine just seek to strength and enhance the body’s own healing process to help the body help itself.

We cannot limit the study of Indian plants based on their therapeutic values but we should also consider their use from astrological point of view.  As mentioned in astrology it is believed that, there are nine planets, which are controlling the destiny of a person and there are certain specified plants which acts as a remedy to treat disastrous effect of planets.  Each planet is associated with different parts of human’s body.

Astrology along with Ayurveda shows how we can heal ourselves through the herbs corresponding to the particular star and also, we obtained fruitful results which are controlling the destiny of a person (Bahadurthapa, 2015).   The Vedic astrology is based on the concept of nakshatras (constellations) and Rashis (as per moon signs).  Every nakshatras has a symbolic tree or plant that defines its connection with eternal nature.  There are in all 27 nakshatras assigned to him/her depending on the date and time on which he/she is born (the thiti) then it will be worthwhile for us to know which tree belongs to our janma nakshatra (birth constellation) and to have some idea about its medicinal importance and aplications.

Complete set of 27 trees directly creates healthy and sound physical, mental, phycological and spiritual beings which is the ultimate and absolute bliss to oneself and to the earth too. When people throughout the world are disturbed by the degradation of the environment and disastrous consequence of this, traditional ethics of nature conservation and protection of nature and wildlife was reflected in the daily lives of people enshrined in myths, folklore, religious, arts and culture.

            Such traditional cultural attributes through based on religious faith, have made significant contribution in the protection and propagation of various plants species in India. In India, environmental conservation is not a new concept. Sustainability was integrated in the thought process of early Indians as evident from the teaching of Vedas perhaps; culture provided such a profound variety of practices and ecologically sound relationship with nature. In the process of harvest no damage should be done to earth, humans are forewarned not against the nature for survival, but against the overuse and abuse.  In the view of this the present work on the traditional methods of preservation of medicinal plan is undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of socio-religious believes in conserving certain plant species.

Materials and methods:

Study area: The study area Namada chilume is a place located approximately 15 km from in Tumkur district, Karnataka.  The district is located between 13.34°N longitude and 77.1°E latitude. Namada chilume is a religious place with history go back to Tretayuga 5114 BC where Lord Rama, during his exile in the forest (Vanvasa), halted at this place on his way to Lanka.  The story says that Lord Rama wanted to apply Nama on his forehead, but since he didn’t find water anywhere, he shot an arrow into the ground and the spring opened from underground. That is how the name go derived from the place as Namada Chilume (Rama-namada Chilume) which means spring of Tilaka. Because of these religious believes some of the plants related to the Indian traditions are preserved in the medicinal garden of the Namada Chilume in a systematic manner.

Survey: The present study was based on a reconnaissance survey.  During the year 2020-21 the area in and around Namada Chilume were surveyed and recorded the major socio-religious plants which are conserved.  The information collected on the basis of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and long discussions with forest guard, resource persons and religious priest resided near Namada Chiliume, regarding the uses of plants in different religious rites and rituals.  The plants collected were taxonomically identified by using Floras of Presidency Mudras and Flora of Karnataka.  The herbarium specimens were prepared and deposited in the Department of Botany, GFGC, Tumkur.    

Results and discussion: The practice of allocating tree species to individuals based on lunar atrium, like navagrahavana, nakshatravana was also prevalent. Nakshatravana, Rashivana and navagrahavruksha are other effective.  Clear to protect trees and environment.  Allocating tree species to individual based on lunar arterium under which they are born (birth star trees or nakshatravanam) under this, all individuals are expected to take care of their birth star trees.  They are.

Importance of navagrahavatika (Celestial garden): Navagrahavatika (garden) is very important and source of energy is planted anywhere.  As three plants represents different planets i.e. represent different celestial force so this garden is used to get the power of navagraha alignment or health problems are set right, heated on cured when the affected people spend time, request, talk, or mediated neat or under the particular trees corresponding to their star.

Power of navagraha

• It gives the visitors and the person taking care of them a healthy and wealthy life.
• It provide from various disease problems including non-communicable disease.
• If planted heartily in auspicious time and in well directions then it attracts the powers of divine energies.
• Removes Vastu Dosha (Problem due to the wrong house architecture)
• Encourage tree plantation.

 

Table 1: Planets in astrology and their role in different disease

Planet in Astrology	Western Name	Body Part Represent	Role In Different Diseases
Surya	Sun	Soul	Headaches and troubles related to heart, eyes, bile and bones.
Chandra	Moon	Vitality	Somnambulism (sleep-walking), coughs, dysentery, tumor, malaria, hydrophobia, fear of animals with horns, problems concerning women, hallucinations.
Budha	Mercury	Nerves	Weak Mercury results in less intelligence. Mercury can also be related to problems with voice, skin and neck. Lack of self-confidence, irrational fears, throat and eye problems, goiter, nose diseases, colds, coughs fevers, flatulence, poisoning, skin diseases, jaundice, excessive fear of fire.
Shukra	Venus	Sex-organs	Anemia, diseases of the eye, flatulence, cough, urinary diseases, diabetes, syphilis, prostatitis, low sperm count, impotence, dryness of mouth, constipation, irrational fears, unable to socialize with people.
Mangala	Mars	Blood circulation	Problems like burns, cuts, bile, loss of blood, indigestion, acidity, head injury, abortion, tumors in stomach and appendicitis, leprosy, eye diseases, epilepsy, bone marrow diseases and piles.
Guru	Jupiter	Heart	The amount of fat in the body increases. It can also be associated with the problems related with liver, jaundice, diabetes, cancer etc. Stomach tumors such as gastric tumors appendicitis, typhoid, coughs, ear diseases, comas, frequent litigations.
Shani	Saturn	Feet	Causes chronic ailments like arthritis, dental problems, skin problems, problems in legs, paralysis, swelling in the feet, stress and surgeries. Flatulence, cough, pain in the legs, excessive fatigue, illusion, excessive heat in the body, mental shocks, personal calamities, accidents causing temporary or lasting wounds in the body, problems with the heart, frequent bereavement.
Rahu	North lunar node	Borns	Heart diseases such as attacks and inflammations, leprosy, illusions, hallucinations, diseases due to poisoning, irrational fears, excessive hurt and wounds.
Ketu	South lunar node	Secret parts	Ketu can be associated with surgeries. It can also be connected to chickenpox and stammering. Conflicts between castes, unknown mysterious diseases that cannot be easily found out by doctors.

NAVAGRAHAVATIKA

A total of 48 socio-religious plants species belonging 33 genera and 24 Families from the Namachilume has been found.  Among them 36 species are trees, 7 species shrubs, 4 species herbs and 1 species climber.  These plant species have been described with scientific name, family, local name, (Table no.1, 2 and 3; Plate-1 to 9). Nakshatravana, Rashivana and Navagrahavruskshas are other effective ideas to protect trees and environment.

Table 2: Navagrahavatika (celestial garden plants with its direction)

Sl.no	Planet	Planet representative plants
		Common name	Scientific name	Family	Direction of plantation
1	Sun	Aak\shwetark	Calotropis gigantean (L)R.Br.ex Schutt.	Asclepedaceae	Middle
2	Moon	Muttuga	Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub.	Fabaceae	South-east
3	Mercury	Uttarani	Achyranthes aspera L.	Amaranthaceae	North
4	Venus	Atti	Ficus racemosa L.	Moraceae	East
5	Mars	Kaachu	Acacia catechu (Roxb.)	Fabaceae	South
6	Jupiter	Arali /Ashavath	Ficus religiosa  L.	Moraceae	North
7	Saturn	Shami/banni	Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce.	Fabaceae	West
8	Rahu	Durva/garike	Cynodon dactylon(L.)Pers.	Poaceae	South-west
9	Kethu	Darbha	Desmostachya bipinnata (L.)Stapf	Poaceae	North-west

Navagrahavatika (celestial garden) is very important and source of energy is planted anywhere.  As three plants represents different planets i.e. represent different celestial force so this garden is used to get the power of navagraha alignment or health problems are set right, heated on cured when the affected people spend time, request, talk, or mediated neat or under the particular trees corresponding to their star.

 

 

                  Sun                                     Calotropis gigantean (L) R.Br.ex Schutt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Moon
			Butea monosperma (Lam.)Taub

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Mercury
			Achyranthes aspera L.

 

 

 

PLATE-1: Planets representing respective plants

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

			Ficus racemosa L.
	Venus

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Mars
			Acacia catechu (Roxb.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Jupiter		Ficus religiosa L

 

 

 

PLATE-2: Planets representing respective plants

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Saturn
			Prosopis cineraria (L.) Druce.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Rahu
			Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

	Ketu Graha		Desmostachya bipinnata (L.) Stapf.

 

 

 

PLATE-3: Planets representing respective plants

 

RASHIVANA

Several tree and shrubs were regarded as sacred because of their medicinal/aesthetics/natural qualities as well as some because of their proximity to their particular deity.

SL. NO	ZODIAC SIGN	BOTANICAL NAME	COMMON NAME	FAMILY
1.	Aries(mesha)	Pterocarpus santalinus L.	Red Sandalwood	Fabaceae
2.	Taurus(vrishaba)	Alstonia scholaris(L.)R.Br	Saptaparni	Apocynaceae
3.	Gemini(mithuna)	Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.	Jack fruit tree	Moraceae
4.	Cancer (karkataka)	Butea monosperma (Lam.)Taub	Palasha	Fabaceae
5.	Leo (simha)	Stereospermum chelonoides L.	Kaladri	Bignoniaceae
6.	Virgo (kanya)	Mangifera indica L.	Mango	Anacardiaceae
7.	Libra (tula)	Mimusops elengi L.	Pogada	Sapotaceae
8.	Scorpio(vruschika)	Acacia catechu (Roxb.)	Jali	Fabaceae
9.	Sagittarius(dhanu)	Ficus religiosa L.	people tree	Moraceae
10.	Capricorn(makara)	Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.	Indian rose wood	Fabaceae
11.	Aquarius(kumbha)	Prosopis cineraria L.(Druce)	Shami	Fabaceae
12.	Pisces(meena)	Ficus benghalensis L.	Banyan	Moraceae

 

 

 

 

 

PLATE-4: Plants representing Rashis

NAKSHATRAVANAM PLANTS

There has been a practice of allocating tree species to individuals based on lunar asterism under which they are born (birth star trees or Nakshatravanam) under this, all individuals are expected to take care of their birth star trees.  They are

Table 4: Names of the plants with their respective nakshathra

Sl. No.	NAKSHATRA	COMMON NAME	BOTANICAL NAME	FAMILY
1.	Ashwini	Poisonous nut	Strychnos nux-vomica  L.	Loganiaceae
2.	Bharani	Amla	Phyllanthus  emblica  Gaertn.	Phyllathaceae
3.	Krittika	Cluster fig	Ficus racemose L.	Moraceae
4.	Rohini	Java plum	Syzygium cumini  (L.) Skeels	Myrtaceae
5.	Mrigashira	kempujali	Acacia catechu  (L.f.) Willd.	Fabaceae
6.	Ardra	Shivani	Gmelina arborea  Roxb.ex Smith	Verbenaceae
7.	Punarvasu	Bamboo	Bambusa bambos  (L.) Voss.	Poaceae
8.	Pushyami	Peepal tree	Ficus religiosa L.	Moraceae
9.	Ashlesha	Nag Champa	Mesua ferrea L.	Calophyllaceae
10.	Makha	Banyan tree	Ficus bengalenis L.	Moraceae
11.	Purvaphalguni	Palasha	Butea monosperma  (Lam.) Taub.	Fabaceae
12.	Uttaraphalguni	ashwath/arali	Ficus arnottiana  (Miq.) Miq.	Moraceae
13.	Hasta	Wild mango	Spondias pinnata  (L. f.) Kurz	Anacardiaceae
14.	Chitta	Bael/Bengal quince	Aegle marmelos  (L.) Correa	Rutaceae
15.	Swathi	Hole matthi	Terminalia arjuna  (Roxb.) Wight & Arn.	Combretaceae
16.	Anuradha	Ranjal	Mimusops elengi L.	Sapotaceae
17.	Jyestha	Bhoothaganimara	Symploco scochinchinensis  (Lour.) S.Moore	Symplocaceae
18.	Mula	Nallarojanamu	Canarium strictum Roxb.	Burseraceae
19.	Purvashada	SamudraPhal	Barringtonia racemose   (L.) Spreng.	Lecythidaceae
20.	Uttarashada	Halasu	Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.	Moraceae
21.	Shravana	Ekka	Calotropis gigantean  (L.) W.T.Aiton	Apocynaceae
22.	Dhanishta	Shami	Prosopis cineraria   (L.) Druce.	Fabaceae
23.	ShathaBheeshma	kaduavaltige	Neolamarckia cadamba  (Roxb.) Bosser.	Rubiaceae
24.	Vishaka	Indian plum	Flacourtia indica  Burm. f. Merr.	Salicaceae
25.	Purvabhadra	Mango	Mangifera indica L.	Anacardiaceae
26.	Uttarabhadra	Neem	Azadirachta indica  A.Juss.	Meliaceae
27.	Revathi	Indian butter tree	Madhuca longifolia  (Roxb.) A.Chev.	Sapotaceae

 

 

Mimusops elengi L. represents                               Libra (Tula)

Acacia catechu (L.f.) (Roxb.) Willd represents  Scorpio (Yruschika)

Ficus religiosa L. represents                              Sagittarius (Dhanu)

Dalbergia sissoo Roxb.  represents                  Capricorn (makara)

Ficus benghalensis L. represents                        Pisces (meena)

Prosopis cineraria L.(Druce.)  represents                  Aquarius (kumbha)

PLATE-5: Plants representing Rashis

 

 

PLATE-6: Plants representing nakshathra

PLATE-7: Plants representing nakshathra

PLATE-8: Plants representing nakshathra

PLATE-9: Plants representing nakshathra

PLATE-10: Plants representing nakshathra

Conclusion: It is believed that tree of nakshatra, navagraha, rashis in which that person is born gives peace, prosperity, health and happiness.   Navagrahavatika, nakshatravana, rashivana (forest) is an attractive idea and a way to encourage growing trees to save the earth and living beings.

A total of 46 socio-religious plants species belonging 37 genera and 30 families from the Namadachilume has been found. Among them 27 species of trees, 2 species of herbs, 1 species of shrubs. These plant species have been described with scientific name, family, local name (Table No.1,2,3). Nakshatra vana, rashivana and Navagrahavruskshas are other effective ideas to protect trees and environment.

References

[1]      Bahadurthapa C, 2015.  Some socio-religious flora of Rupandehi district, western Nepal.  International journal of applied sciences and biotechnology, 3(1):123-126

[2]      Conservation of biodiversity-vikaspedia.  Vikaspedia.in>energy>biodiversity-1

[3]      Chandni G, Navneet S, 2017.  Role of Navagrahaplant in management of non-communicable diseases.  International journal of Ayurveda and pharma research, 5:30-33

[4]      Cecil J. Saldanha, Flora of Karnataka, Volume 2, India. Dept. of Science and Technology Published by Oxford & IBH, 1996, ISBN:8120410408, 9788120410404

[5]      Gamble, J.S. (1915-36) Fischer CEC. Flora of the Presidency of Madras. Vol. 1-3, Adlard and Son Ltd., London.

[6]      http://www. Astroworld.co.in/astrology/-trres-of-27 naksgatras-stars/.

[7]      http8;//wiki.nurscrylive.com/t/nakshatra-plants-significance-of-these-to-sustain-human-life/2369

[8]      https://www.  Astroshree.in/2012/04/navagraha-vatika-navagraha-plants.html.m=1

[9]      https://www.  Devshoppe. Com/blogs/articles/plants-and-nakshatra

[10]  Kumar B, Chandra S, Bargali K, pangtteyyappa S. 2007. Ethnobotany of religious practices of kumoun (Hassan).  Bishan Singh Mahendra pal singh, dehradunm.1-137.

[11]  Namada Chilume/district tumkur, government of Karnataka https://tumkur.nic.in>namada-chilume.

[12]  Navagarhavana /planet tree/saptarshivana /trees of seven richis/ rashivana/ vari trees in kannada name/in sanskrithdrchethansblog-blogspot.com

[13]  Navagrahavatika, navagraha plants, navagraha van astroshree, www.astroshree.in/2012/04 navagrahavatika-navagrahaplants.html.

[14]  Plants and trees of 27 Nakshatras (stars) www. Astroworld.co.in

[15]  Rutesh R, Shah S, patel RS. 2014. Study of various plant species useful in each nakshatra for human society.  International jounal of scientific and research publications; 4(1):1-10

 

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