Assessment of Plants Associated with Vedic Practice of Kumaun Agnihotra

Agnihotra is an important practice of Vedic period which is performed for peace, happiness and prosperity. During ancient age, it was performed many times in a day by the Vedic people. Agnihotra was an important part of their routine life. Fumes of Yagya purify the surrounding environment by removing foul odors replaced with various volatile organic compounds. But in the modern time it is performed only on some special occasions like ceremonies, festivals and on other worships. Ancient time people were uses various medicinal plants for curing harmful diseases by performing fumigation method. Present study is focused on the medicinal plants which are applied to perform a very ancient religious practice of the Kumaun Himalaya and effect of their components when offered in Agnihotra as Havan material or their medicinal uses. A questionnairebased survey was conducted in major religious places of Almora for collecting the information on plants used in the worship on different occasions. In result a total of 34 medicinal plants are recorded from four major religious sports of Kumaun. Out of which maximum 24 plants are applied in the worship of lord Shiva at Jageshwar shrine. Apart from this, 29 such medicinal plants along with their chemical constituents have also been studied which are mentioned in the Vedic text and these are applied in Agnihotra . This study will be important in preserving this plant-based Vedic practice of Kumaun as well as these important medicinal plants and an attempt has also been made to emphasize the plants which are used in making incense and Havan material.

@article{mukta2026,
  author  = {Mukta Martolia, Archana Kandpal and Balwant Kumar*},
  title   = {{Assessment of Plants Associated with Vedic Practice of Kumaun Agnihotra}},
  journal = {Journal of Bioresearch},
  year    = {2026},
  volume  = {3},
  number  = {2},
  pages   = {34-41},
  doi     = {https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10791296},
}