• Dr.D.A.Patil

India is regarded cultural cradle of biodiversity. Relationships of mankind, whether concrete or abstract, are multifarious. Man always leads both material and spiritual life. His faith and beliefs are intertwined intricately with the plant world as well as his gods and goddesses. He finds divinity in plants or their parts and hence construe them useful as offerings to the deities. Lord Shiva is one of the trinity of Hindu gods, and worshipped on many specific occasions by them. Indian research workers documented many plant species or botanicals as offering during worships of Lord Shiva. The present author reviewed only exotic plant species associated with Lord Shiva's worships. As many as 38 exotic plants species turned out belonging to 33 genera and 22 families. They dicotyledonous taxa have, however, major role as compared to the monocotyledonous ones. These are cultivated (17 species) or wild (18 species), two species being either wild or cultivated. The habital categories viz., trees, shrubs and herbs have nearly equal share. They belong to different continents, countries, islands or specific geographical regions of both Old and New Worlds. The distant continent viz., America has a major share. These results are discussed in the context of plant invasion in India, apart from religious significance.

Lord Shiva, Exotic Plants, Bioinvasion, India.

"Role of Exotic Plants In Worship of Lord Shiva", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 4, page no.p266-p278, April-2024, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2404G34.pdf

"Role of Exotic Plants In Worship of Lord Shiva", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.11, Issue 4, page no. ppp266-p278, April-2024, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR2404G34.pdf