‘India has fabulous plant diversity — we venerate life-giving plants’

Harini Nagendra teaches ecology and sustainability at Azim Premji University, Bengaluru. She tells Times Evokehow deeply plants are interwoven into India’s culture:



India has tremendously rich

plant diversity

. We have two of the world’s biodiversity hotspots in the

Western Ghats

and the eastern Himalayas. We also have the Eastern Ghats, the central Indian forests, the western Himalayas, deserts, wetlands and mangrove forests. With such diversity, each region has its own kinds of plants. Some studies estimate India holds 11% of the world’s flora.



Plants thus have an incredibly special place in Indian culture. In the

Biligiri Rangaswamy Tiger Reserve

in Karnataka, the Soliga tribe has a ‘dodda sampige mara’, a huge champak tree. They believe this tree is 2,000 years old. Looking at the tree, you feel it is truly other-worldly.

YOUR MAJESTY: This enormous banyan tree in Bidaraguppe, Karnataka, has grown over 300 years from being a small plant to a veritable palace of greenery which now shelters multiple forms of life. Picture courtesy: Suri Venkatachalam via H. Nagendra

Closer home to where I live, there stands a very large banyan tree, replete with all the roots and plants that grow upon it. This tree, considered to be 300 years old, is so dear to the locals, they insisted a highway was adjusted to not damage the tree. Villagers have built a small temple within the tree. When you walk inside this tree, with all its chambers and hollows, you feel like you’ve stepped into a magical place. Indigenous communities in Africa, North and South America also hold certain plants to be sacred — lifegiving plants specifically, like the ficus tree which gifts fruit, shade and shelter, are venerated.



But human activities are now impacting this world of plants. Each plant has its own environmental range or the temperature, humidity and soil within which it flourishes. Climate change is impacting plants across an elevation gradient and latitude and longitude. Once, apple trees were grown in the lower reaches of the Himalayas. Now, with climate change making the higher parts warmer, people can grow apples there — which also reflects how many traditional crops can no longer be grown in these areas.

PURPLE REIGN: The bougainvillea with its papery flowers is a familiar sight across India, an evergreen climber which thrives in hot and dry climates and protects itself against predators with its thick thorns. Picture: iStock
Many forests are also growing drier with more frequent forest fires breaking out. This gives invasive plant species like thorny lantana the opportunity to take over, further drying the forest and crowding out productive plants. That means animals can’t get food in forests — they have to come out, seeking food in human habitations. Around Bannerghata National Park, many farmers have started growing non-food crops like eucalyptus as animals seek food crops to eat. But such crops are water-hungry and demand chemicals, adding to pollution, while leaving animals starved.



We must be far more aware of our impacts on plants. Existentially, we lose ourselves when we lose plants — philosophically too, imagine a world bereft of plants, trees and flowers. What is left to gladden our hearts in such a world? We need to observe the plant world around us with more care. While hundreds of thousands of trees are chopped down every year, plants face human impacts every day, from encroachment to concretisation. We need to protect them from these dangers. Also, wherever you are, do plant something — put potted plants on your balcony. Convince your office to grow a green roof. Plant seeds in an open patch. I have seen slum inhabitants in Bengaluru who live in tin shacks but plant saplings in old paint buckets. If such marginalised people can look after plants, the endowed who have more space certainly can.

Perhaps the banyan is the most special plant to me. The banyan tree I mentioned makes me feel like I’m in the presence of a very wise being, someone who has seen worlds change and history play out. If this tree, which grew from a little plant to this mighty being, is standing here, sheltering so many birds, animals and human beings, there is still hope for the world.

Don't miss the yearly horoscope 2025 and Chinese horoscope 2025 for Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig zodiac signs. Spread love this holiday season with these Happy New Year wishes, messages, and quotes.