Study of Some Medico-religious Plants in the Tribal Localities of Bargarh District, Odisha, India

A survey on medico-religious plants was carried out in the tribal localities of Bargarh district in the state of Odisha, India. The study area is actually a tribal zone of western part of Odisha. Plants of the nature are not only limited to providing medicine, food, shelter and clothing but are also used by people in many religious functions. Hence the medicinal plants also have religious values. Information regarding medico-religious properties was collected during field survey from August 2023 to November 2023 in different tribal villages of Bargarh. Data was collected directly from local people, traditional ayurvedic doctors and crude medicinal plant parts sellers. Voucher specimens of 20 medico-religious plants were collected from the study area and identified in the laboratory of Botany Department in Anchal College, Padampur using local flora books and available literatures. The Information regarding both the religious uses and medicinal uses of 20 plants have been documented. Also scientific name, local name, family name and habit of plants were recorded in this study. It was found during the survey that most of the common plants are being used as the sources of traditional medicine and also as the products to be used in different religious practices like worships, marriages, birthday celebrations etc. Due to climate change and human activities, there is always threats to these plant resources. So, it is very urgent to save these plant species and conserve them.