Socio-cultural and religious use of plants by ethnic communities of Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas

Abstract

Plants are connected with the human culture since antiquity. All the religions of India worship plants or utilize their parts in various ways to complete their socio-religious ceremonies. Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas are inhabited by three main ethnic communities Lepcha, Bhutia and Nepali. Lepchas are nature worshippers and traditionally followed ‘Bon’ religion. They later started following Buddhism like Bhutias. Hence there is an amalgamation of Lepcha and Bhutia culture, whereas Nepali follows Hinduism. All these communities use various plants in their socio-religious and cultural heritage. Present study on the subject reports a total of 74 plant species from 65 genera and 44 families. Out of them 62.1% represents dicots followed by monocots 33.8%, gymnosperms 2.7% and pteridophytes 1.4 %. Maximum uses were found to be of leaves (21.6%), followed by fruits (14.9%), twigs (10.8%), etc. Of the total recorded plant species, about 16% were used by all the three communities. Considering community wise use frequency, maximum were recorded from Nepali community (60 species) followed by Bhutia (34 species) and Lepcha (26 species). Preservation of indigenous knowledge related to plant resources may serve as an important tool for conserving them. Hence, the scientific documentation of these plant species having high utility and importance is essential for sustainable utilization.