A Pre-historic Tree Cult
Summary
This article surveys the widespread cult of tree worship in India from pre-historic times to the early modern period, focusing on sacred trees such as the pipal (sacred fig), banyan (vat), and udumbara (cluster fig). The author provides ethnographic examples from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Bengal where communities honour trees as abodes of deities, sources of fertility and agents of healing. Among the Nagar Brahmins of Kathiawad, newly married couples circumambulate a banyan tree and hang their wedding garlands on its branches, while villagers in north India walk around pipal trees on Saturdays and tie rags to their branches to transfer illness or ward off evil. Women in Bihar and Bengal make offerings of flags and string to pipal and banyan trees, believing that the trees can grant offspring, wealth and long life. The article links these practices to the concept of transference of disease, as illustrated by the custom of wrapping cotton strings around tree trunks during epidemics. It also discusses the ritual of worshipping the Aksaya-vata within the Jagannatha temple at Puri by barren women, noting that the presiding deity is identified as Vataganesha. Turning to religious symbolism, the author points out that the Buddha’s enlightenment under the Bodhi tree led Buddhists to revere the pipal as a symbol of wisdom, though early sculptures depict the tree as aniconic representation rather than an object of worship. Rhys Davids is cited to suggest that the pipal may have been sacred even before its association with the Buddha. The article concludes that the enduring veneration of certain trees in India reflects a synthesis of pre-Vedic nature cults, fertility rites and later Hindu and Buddhist traditions. By documenting diverse regional practices and exploring textual and artistic evidence, it illustrates how sacred trees function as mediators between the human and divine realms, embodying fertility, healing and cosmological symbolism.
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Conclusion
The study reveals that Indian tree worship is not a homogenous practice but a complex set of rituals rooted in folk beliefs, health rituals and religious narratives. Whether in marriage ceremonies, disease-healing rites or Buddhist iconography, trees serve as living symbols of fertility and longevity. By tracing connections across regions and texts, the article emphasises that what might appear as simple superstition actually encodes deep cultural values about life, health and spirituality. It invites readers to appreciate the historical continuity of these rituals and their adaptability within Hindu and Buddhist cosmologies.