TRINIDAD/TOBAGO, March 15, 2011: Plants of Religious Significance: The Hindu Perspective, by Rabindranath Lackhan from Trinidad and Tobago, aims to provide information about the plants and flowers used in Hindu rituals and pujas. Sri Lackhan wrote the first edition of the book while he was an undergraduate student at the University of the West Indies (UWI)-St. Augustine. Now, after many requests, he has published a revised edition of the book, trying to incorporate 25-years of new material.
He consulted with agencies such as the Caribbean Agricultural and Research Development Institute at UWI to update his material for the revised edition. He also reviewed Hindu texts like the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayan and consulted with pundit and psychologist Samsundar Parasram because he was intrigued by the meaning attached to specific plants associated with specific Hindu deities. He also wanted to unearth knowledge about how and why certain leaves and flowers were used in pujas. So he spoke to an expert in that area. He says, “I wanted to know why the paan leaves are placed on the bedi and then the mango leaves are used to pour water or milk.”
Lackhan also emphasizes the importance of preserving the environment and he encourages people to propagate these ceremonial plants, especially those that will are slowly becoming extinct, adding that, already in some areas it has become a task to obtain once-commonplace plants, such as bamboo.
The book is available at bookstores and puja stores in Trinidad; it will soon be available through Amazon.
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