A note on Sanjeevani plant of Ramayana.

The use of herbal and aromatic plants in textile and non-textile related fields is very important. Thus the natural wealth of Uttarakhand has a very bright future. In India till now, no systematic efforts have been made to develop the growth, protection and the use of these herbal plants.

Ficus religiosa Linn is a large evergreen tree found throughout India, wild as well as cultivated. It is popular indigenous system of medicine like Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy. In traditional system of medicine, various parts such as stem bark, root bark aerial roots, vegetative buds, leaves, fruits and latex are used in diabetes, vomiting, burns, gynaecological problems, dysentery, diarrhea, nervous disorders, tonic and astringent. Phytochemical investigation of plant barks, showed the presence tannins, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids and cardiac glycosides.

On a global scale, the existing Sacred Groves (SGs) follow ancestral worship on conservation in forest patches. SGs are distributed over a wide ecosystem and help in conservation of rare and endemic species. Well preserved SGs are store houses of biological, ecological, medicinal, ethno-cultural and religious values.

Present paper deals with 74 species of food plants of medicinal value out of hundreds found in the beautiful valleys and hills of Manipur lying in the extreme North-Eastern region of the country.