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India has a unique social and cultural set up with people of diverse culture and religion. The country is one of the oldest and greatest civilizations of the world. Hinduism, is the main religions of India. Ramayana is the most important epic book in Hinduism. It teaches about life, principles, duty, justice etc. through the life-story of Rama. By that way, Ramayana is a great Epic and highly regarded as a sacred holy book. People’s interest towards Ramayana is very intense and medieval. Its religious importance together with social value, teachings, principles of life preached besides Rama’s exile to the forest for 14 years and its narration is a complete recourse and reflected our life image. That’s why people very intensely read, follow, interpret in various ways with a special bonding. The Epic was a source of interest for people from walks of life viz. religious people, geologists, environmentalist, paleobotanist, botanical scientists and researchers as well, as the content was diverse. From botanical point of view, the Ramayana is a scientific document on the different kind of forests, geographical / territorial diversity, climatological expressions, diversity of flora and fauna available during that period. Since its inscription, it drew attention of the many botanical scientists, geologists, paleobotanists for studying the descriptions of the contemporary flora, fauna, land types and climatological diversities. They documented their observations in various forms viz., scientific papers, books, blogs narrating all the places, from its place of origin (Ayodhya) to Lanka (Sri Lanka). Some people studied the connections / route related to the movement of Rama for his exile from Ayodhya, passing through various states of present India and its religious significance and documented in various ways.

India has a unique social and cultural setting with diverse people, culture and religions. It is one of the oldest and greatest civilizations of the world. Geographically India extends snow clad Himalayan mountains in the north to the tropical rain forests of the south. It is the 7th largest country in the world and well recognised in Asia by its mountains, seas, deserts, and vast stretch of fertile plain land, which give the country a distinct geographical identity. India has a very rich, diverse religious and cultural heritage. The four main religions of India are - Hinduism, Islam, Christianity and Sikhism. Hinduism is the largest religion in India, with approximately 80% of the population is Hindu while Islam (Muslim) is the second-largest religion having 14% (approx.) share. Religion in India is characterised by the diversity of religious beliefs and practices. In Indian history, religion has been an important part of the country's culture. Indian subcontinent is the birthplace of four of the world's major religions, namely, Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism, which are collectively known as native Indian religions and represent 83% of the total population of India approximately. Hinduism Hinduism is the main Indian religion. It is considered as a religious and universal order, a way of life which followed by the people who believed in Hinduism. The word ‘Hindu’ refers group of particular people who believes and follow Hinduism, the oldest religion in the world. It has also been described as ‘Sanatana dharma’.

The Ramayana written by sage Valmiki is one of the great epics of the Sanskrit language. It is most religiously regarded and popular book in Hinduism. The book is believed to be complied between 300 B.C.E. – 200 AD. However, the original story could be as old 500 B.C.E. (Goldman, 1984). There are many other versions of the epic in various regional languages found in India and South Asia (Raghunathan, 1981; Arya,1998; Dutt, 2004; Mukherjee, 2015; Sharma and Arya, 2022). As per literature references, the name ‘Ramanaya’ is composed of two words, ‘Rama’ and ‘Aya?a’. Rama, the name of the main character of the Epic, has two contextual meanings. In the Atharvaveda, it means 'dark’, dark-coloured, ‘black' and is related to the word ‘ratri’ (night) which means 'darkness of night'. The other meaning, which can be found in the Mahabharata, is 'pleasing’, pleasant, charming, lovely, beautiful. The word ‘Ayana’ means travel or journey. Thus, Ramaya?a means ‘Rama's Journey’ from his kingdom to various places, forests during his life time (Anonymous, 1960; Tulsidas, 1966; Murthy, 2003; Kishore, 2007; Rajagopalachari, 2013). Ramayana contains over 24,000 couplet verses, in its full form, which are divided into following seven ‘Ka??as’ (booklets) - Balaka??a, Ayodhyaka??a, Ara?yaka??a, Ki?kindhaka??a, Sundaraka??a, Yuddhaka??a, Uttaraka??a and about 500 sargas (chapters). It is regarded as one of the longest epic poems written in history (Keshavadas, 1988; Debroy, 2017; Gupta, 2021). morally right man in the world? Narada replied that such a man is Rama, son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya. Valmiki wanted to know more about Rama and proceeded to take bath when he saw two birds in playful mood and was happy. Suddenly, a hunter hiding in the bush shot one of the two birds. Valmiki became painful and chanted some dialogues in curse which ultimately created a new form of sloka. This was the beginning of the main narrative (Goldman, 1984; Sachithanantham, 2004).

The exile of Rama and his journey to the forests (vanvasa) for 14 years was started from Ayodhya (Uttar Pradesh, India) and ended to Lanka (Sri Lanka), through different forests, territorial regions, lands, hills, lakes of old India. The whole journey to those places was candidly portrayed in Ramayana with vivid descriptions, from narrations of the night sky, the position of different stars to descriptions of the flora, fauna and landscape. In this chapter, a retrospection of the places, forests, Rama passed through during his entire journey has been documented. The present status of those forests and places has been considered to evaluate a comparison over the thousands of years and the changes taken place besides significance they hold till date (Anonymous, 2024; Iyer, 2014). Journey to the Forest and Route Map Ayodhya, the capital city, kingdom of Kosala, was situated on the banks of holy river Saryu and was the birthplace of Rama. To fulfill the wish of his father, king Dasharatha, Rama left Ayodhya for 14 years of exile to the forest, along with Sita and Lakshmana. Their journey started from Ayodhya and passed through different places / forests.

In this chapter, a comprehensive list of all plants and trees mentioned in epic Ramayana has been furnished with salient details in order to establish their botanical identity and references of Sholka where it had been mentioned. Some of the plants and trees had been mentioned in multiple sholokas but the plant has been taken into account as a single reference to avoid repetition and to get correct count of the trees and plants in whole of the Epic (Amirthalingam, 2013, Arun Kumar, 2019; Balapure et al., 1987; Bast, 2022; Ghimire et.al, 2021; Mao and Dash, 2010; Prasad and Mishra, 1976). The plant species mentioned in Ramayana were of different types having various usages. Considering their morphological characteristics, usages and other importance, they have been categorized broadly into the following heads. 1. Economically important plants (Timber value, product yielding etc. having commercial importance). 2. Edible (major and minor fruits etc.). 3. Culturally important plants (Plants used for plantation for shade, greening etc.). 4. Non-Edible Plants (Ornamental importance and other usages) 5. Medicinal Plants (having therapeutic uses). 6. Sacred Plants (having religious importance). 7. Others (having multipurpose uses).

In previous Chapter, a list was furnished mentioning common names, botanical names, family and types of the all plants mentioned in the Ramayana. The purpose was to know the total number of plants and trees mentioned besides providing reference of the Shlokas as well. This information led to identification of the plants and trees but details about their morphological and floral characters were not mentioned. Therefore, in this Chapter details of the trees and other plants have been provided. This will help to know all about their botanical standing, conservation status, nativity, morphological and floral characters so that one can know the full details including present-day status, availability and importance (Cowen, 1950; Randhawa, 1983; Roy, 2015; 2024). 1. Botanical Name: Adenanthera pavonina L. Synonym: Adenanthera gersenii Scheff. Common Name: ‘Red Bead Tree’, ‘Curly Bean’, ‘Red Sandal Wood’ Family: Fabaceae Nativity: India, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia to Queensland Conservation Status: Common (Not Threatened) Type: Tree Morphological and Floral Characters: Red Bead Tree is a timber tree found wild in India. Leaves compound, bipinnate, green when young, turning yellow on maturity. Flowers small, yellowish, grows in a dense, drooping almost cat tail like flower-heads. Fruits curved pods, hanging, green that turn brown, coil up and split open on ripening, showing small bright red seeds which are attractive, used as beads in jewellery.

Retrospection India is a unique country in the world with many religions and cultural diversity. Indian culture has been continuing through the ages because of its adjustability with others and openness. Unity in diversity is one of the major characteristics of Indian culture. It is a diverse nation where people of many religions live together peacefully. Religion in India is characterized by the diversity of religious beliefs and practices. In Indian history, religion has played an important role in the cultural set up of the country. Hinduism is the main Indian religion and considered as a universal order, a way of life which is followed by the people. The origin for Hinduism is very old having no exact date of its inception. This is a belief and practices followed by people through the ages and considered as a process of humanity. The earliest known sacred text of Hinduism is ‘Vedas’ which dates back to at least 3000 BCE. However, it is believed that these texts are of divine origin and timeless. Hinduism was more philosophically and theoretically described in Upanishads, written roughly between 800 and 400 BCE. The Mahabharata and Bhagavad-Gita are other best-known book and widely cited on Hinduism. The Ramayana is the other most important epic book on Hinduism which teaches about life, principles, duty, justice etc. through the life-story of Rama. Dasharatha was a great Hindu king of the Kosala kingdom and Ayodhya was the capital from where He ruled. He was the son of King Aja of Kosala and Queen Indumati of Vidarbha. Dasharatha had three primary queens namely - Kausalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi. Unfortunately, the King had no sons to continue his dynasty after him. Despaired Dasharatha summoned Rishyashringa, a forest rishi for a ritual to fulfill his desire of have sons. By that way, the King had four sons. Queen Kaushalya gave birth Rama and similarly, Kaikeyi gave birth Bharata and Sumitra gave birth two sons, namely - Lakshmana and Shatrughna. Lakshmana was very much attached and devoted to Rama while Shatrughna was devoted to Bharata.

A Acuminate 105, 109, 121, 123, 133 Aesthetical 5 Alpine semi-forest 7 Alternate 104, 105, 109, 115, 119, 123, 124, 130, 132, 136, 145, 146, 147, 148, 150, 153, 155 Aquatic 47, 52, 106, 113, 138, 139, 140, 119 Aranyakanda 9 Arboretum 50, 105, 106, 109, 114, 124, 128, 155 Ashok Vatika 40, 50, 51, 52, 203 Atharvaveda 9 Axillary 105, 110, 114, 115, 123, 130, 131, 136, 147, 152, 153, 155 Ayodhya 9, 10, 21, 23, 36, 37, 41, 197, 198, 199, 200, 203, 204, 205, 206 Ayodhyakanda 9