Temple and Sacred Courtyards in Khandesh

The natural science of 'Ethnobotany' although has recent emergence, it is geared up tremendously as it helps reveal bioresources for the welfare of mankind. Researchers, however, have perforce been attracted more toward concrete utilities of botanicals worldwide. India is a treasure-trove of biodiversity and has, therefore, better chances to reveal bioresources to help sustain human life. Moreover, India is rich in ethnicity. It has also better scope to reveal abstract relationships of mankind with the plantworld. The present authors hence inclined to tender their efforts in this realm of research. The inventory documented 263 plant species belonging to 221 genera and 83 families in various religious and temple courtyards in Khandesh region of Maharashtra (India), a hitherto overlooked area of research. It focussed both biodiversity and indigenous utilities in the region. Apart from background information of Khandesh, it gives traditional plantlore w.r.t. ethnomedicine, miscellaneous use-reports and role of plants or botanicals in native bioculture. At the same, it also sheds more light on ethnoeconomics and plant conservation in the said region. This book will be hopefully useful to naturalists, pharmacologists, industrialists, teachers, students, research workers in biological sciences and in biodiversity management.