Abstract

ROLE OF TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE FOR BETTERMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND MANKIND: SPECIAL REFERENCE OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS AND PRACTICES OF FAUNA IN CHHINDWARA DISTRICT OF MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA

Dr. Neelima Bagde* and Dr. Shampa Jain ad Dr. Nagratna Ganveer

ABSTRACT

Religious beliefs and practices have long influenced human perceptions and uses of nature. Animals in particular play a prominent role in magico-religious practices and given the historical and cultural depth of these relationships, understanding human-faunal relations is often fundamental to the cause of meaningful wildlife conservation. This study investigates the domestic and wild harvested species used for spiritual and religious purposes by tribes and rural people of Chhindwara district. Faunal resources have played a wide range of roles in human life from the earliest days of recorded history. In addition to their utilitarian importance, animals have been recognized in religion, art, music and literature and other different cultural manifestations of mankind. The variety of interactions between humans and animals is the subject matter of ethnozoology. Ethnozoological studies can be a valuable asset to increase our understanding of the cultural, economic, social, and traditional roles of played by animals. In this context, they have a central role in conservation and management. This work provides a review on the main forms of interactions between humans and the fauna along history, and their ecological implications, and discusses the role of the ethnozoology in animal conservation. We identified a total of 30 species of animals (or animal derived products) used for magico- religious.

Keywords: Religious, Conservation, Faunal resources, Traditional.