People and the Peepal: Cultural Attitudes to Sacred Trees and Their Conservation in Urban Areas

By K.P. Rashmi, S. Manasi, K.V. Raju and Sunil Nautiyal

Growing urbanization and its negative impacts on urban ecology have been felt acutely, the world over. Protecting the ecosystem is a major issue on the global agenda and preserving it is a priority. Conservation of tree biodiversity through sustainable ecosystem management approaches is important to humankind for various reasons. Trees are life supporting systems and are useful to man as providing extractive and non-extractive benefits. Additionally, they also provide intellectual, aesthetic, cultural, religious and spiritual sustenance. Protection of forests as sacred groves through religious belief systems has been in practice since ancient times around the world. The book attempts to understand the religious practices still in fore in urban contexts conserving sacred trees conferring extensive benefits in cities.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing India
• Release date: Oct 27, 2015
• ISBN: 9781482858754

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Copyright © 2015 K.V. Raju, S. Manasi, Sunil Nautiyal, K.P. Rashmi. All rights reserved.

ISBN

978-1-4828-5876-1 (sc)

978-1-4828-5875-4 (e)

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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11/06/2015

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Foreword

Certain varieties of Trees have always been worshipped traditionally, and parts of trees are used during practice of various cultural traditions and rituals. This is particularly true of the popularly worshipped Peepal and Neem trees, planted together in temple premises and known locally as ‘Ashwathakatte’. Several cultural practices are emphasised in Hindu religious scripts, mythology, while the rituals have attempted to drive home the importance of preserving nature over the centuries. Given the context of rapid urbanization and its threat to urban ecology, it is important that the green cover is protected in cities. It is interesting to see close linkages between cultural practices and tree conservation. Due to their ecological value and mythological beliefs, trees are worshipped and still continue to be used in religious ceremonies.

This study has made an attempt to capture the mythological beliefs, rituals surrounding these holy trees besides its scientific aspects and medicinal values. Capturing the perceptions of people visiting temples is an interesting perspective which provides insights into the belief systems still in practice. Findings from the survey revealed that these trees remained in the landscape because of the religious or social values associated with them. Thus, religious and ritualistic activities followed by lay persons can be an effective tool in aiding biodiversity conservation and reducing tree cover loss to a certain extent. Religious teachings and cultural traditions could be used in a positive sense for conservation of the environment and ecology. In the light of this, the researchers have also suggested some of the measures to be taken to protect the trees since some traditional practices lead to injure the trees.

The researchers have made some relevant suggestions to the concerned departments to ensure sustenance of these holy trees and I am sure the study will be quite useful to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike who is responsible for the maintenance of trees in the city premises and the Mujurai Department who are directly responsible for temple management and the Forest Department to address this as a component of urban tree conservation measures. The results and recommendations of this study will be also be beneficial to researchers pursuing this theme and students working on tree conservation besides some of the non-government organizations working on tree protection in urban areas.

Acknowledgements

This Book ‘‘People and the Peepal’, is the outcome of the research study carried out as a part of a larger study funded under the Ecology and Culture series funded by ISEC. Among various concerns related to urban ecology, tree cover loss is a matter of concern that is often debated. Rapid urbanization has severe impacts on the sustenance of trees. Tree cover loss is largely related to land use change caused by the city’s exceptional growth with open spaces being used for various purposes, largely construction. Thus, importance of trees is imminent in an urban context. In view of this, our study focused on understanding the historical perspective of Ashwathakatte, its importance in Indian culture, religious besides its ecological significance, conservation mechanisms and society’s linkages to local ecosystems which have helped in conservation of trees.

Some time back, A.N. Yellappa Reddy, environmentalist and former secretary of Forest Department of Karnataka State, triggered our thinking on Peepal trees and its contribution to urban ecology. Our journey started from there. We are grateful to his continuous guidance during the course of this study.

We are thankful to Prof. Binay Kumar Pattnaik, Director, Institute for Social and Economic Change (ISEC); Prof Ganeshaiah, and Prof Balakrishna from University of Agriculture Sciences, Bangalore; Prof MN.Chandra shekar, Sathya Sai Baba College, Dr. S. Sundar Rajan, CASB, Bangalore, S.N. Subba Rao, Bhavan’s H.B. College of Commutation and Management and Ramesh, H.M, Technical Lead, HCL Technologies, Bangalore for providing valuable inputs for our study during our discussions; Dr.Padmanabha Rao, Ayurvedic Doctor for providing us the medical perspectives of Peepal and Neem trees; Shri. Satyanarayana Bhatt, Shri. Naveen, M, Shri. Gopal Swamy chief priests for providing us information on beliefs and practices related to holy trees.

We sincerely appreciate and thank all respondents who interacted with us spending their valuable time during our field visits.

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

1. Introduction

1.1. Origin: Peepal tree

2. Objectives

2. 1. Approach in undertaking the study

3. Culture associated with trees in various scriptures

3. 1. Worshiping the trees

3. 2. Cultural perspective with reference to Peepal Tree

3. 3. Trees in Buddhism

3. 4 Customs in conservation of trees

4. Sacred Trees placed in various shrines in Bangalore - An Overview

5. Cultural