LUCKNOW, INDIA, February 4, 2005: Did you know that development of newer rice varieties was to meet the needs of Orissa’s famous Jagannath temple that uses a different variety for its rituals every day? Or that a sandalwood-turmeric tika originates in the belief that it will soothe the mind? Giving various instances to stress that most rituals have a scientific background were delegates at a workshop at the National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI) here. Referring to the Jagannath temple in Orissa’s Puri town using different rice each of the 365 days a year, Sri Lankan botanist Balkrishna Pashupati said: “I have sufficient reason to believe that many varieties of rice were developed essentially to fulfil the daily ritual at the famous temple.” “And that was the reason a large number of villages in Orissa and around specialized in producing at least one of these varieties of rice,” he told a workshop on biodiversity research.
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