ETHNOBOTANY OF SACRED PLANTS IN JAINISM: A STUDY

All the twenty-four Tirthankaras have sacred plants associated with them for salvation. Rishabhanatha is a first Tirthankar and Mahavira the twenty fourth Tirthankar in Jain religion.The first Tirthankar Rishbhanatha has associated with the plant Ficus benghalensis and Mahavira have associated with the plant Shorea robusta. Of these twenty-three plants belong to angiosperms and one plant belongs to gymnosperm, Pinus roxbhurghii associated with the Tirthankar Abhinandannatha. The angiospermic plant Callicarpa microphylla associated with two Tirthankaras Sumatinatha and Padmaprabhu, Shorea robusta associated with Sambhavanatha and Mahavira, similarly Diospyros melanoxylon is associated with Shreyaamsanatha and Kunthunath.