Ethnobotany of religious and supernatural beliefs of the Mising tribes of Assam with special reference to the 'Dobur Uie'

Plants are used in many ways including worshipping gods and goddesses for the protection and betterment of human life. In every human society worship is performed with traditional rituals for well-being. Many tribal communities preserve this tradition through folklore and worship their deities right from the occasion of birth to mourning death. They perform specific worship with pressie offerings.In India various gods and goddesses are worshipped in different religions throughout the country. Various plant parts like bark, twigs, leaves flowers, fruits and seeds are offered to gods. There are many plants grown near the different religious institutions are regarded as sacred plants by different ethnic groups of the country. They preserve the plants by all means which are used in different rituals. At a time when ecological degradation and deforestation have been taking place at an alarming rate throughout the globe, in India thousands of pockets of natural vegetation scattered throughout the country are preserved almost in pristine condition [1-5]. Almost all the religious communities and tribal societies consider some plants as holy in origin and essential in religious functions.Tribal folklore is rich in magico-religious beliefs and taboos. They believe that some gods and deities reside on the trees in the forest. If they do not show mark respect to them their full clan will be destroyed. So they preserve the plants which they regard sacred for social, cultural and religious purposes. Their taboos, festivals, rituals and other cultural aspects are closely associated with the surrounding vegetation preserved on religious ground. The fear of getting attacked by the forest spirits or getting cursed by the deities eventually makes the local communities to resort to worship the spirits and making sacrifices and offerings to pacify them. Although the taboos, self imposed restricted and extra care exhibited by the community have significantly contributed in preserving the