TREE WORSHIP- NATURAL ABODES OF GODS.

‘The groves were God's first temples. Ere man learned
To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave,
And spread the roof above them,---ere he framed
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back
The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood,
Amidst the cool and silence, he knelt down,
And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks
And supplication……………………………..
Father, thy hand
Hath reared these venerable columns, thou
Didst weave this verdant roof. Thou didst look down
Upon the naked earth, and, forthwith, rose
All these fair ranks of trees. They, in thy sun,
Budded, and shook their green leaves in the breeze,
And shot towards heaven. The century-living crow,
Whose birth was in their tops, grew old and died
Among their branches, till, at last, they stood,
(A Forest Hymn by William Cullen Bryant)
In the religious development of the humans we can see five major stages: (i) animism, (ii) spiriticism, (iii) polytheism and (iv) monotheism and (v) at a tangent and at a higher plane pantheism. Primitive humans practised animism, worshipped natural phenomena, animals and plants Spiriticism is even now prevalent among tribes all over the world and similar to Shamanism, a term used widely now. Shamans are tribal spirit men and they are the link between their spirits/ gods and the commons in the community. Polytheism was prevalent in all ancient civilizations-Indian, Greek, Roman, Egyptian etc. In all such civilizations many gods and goddesses were worshipped. Monotheism became widespread with the spread of Christianity and Islam. Hinduism is the only example still pursuing a Mono-polytheistic path of religion. Here there is a ‘decentralization’ of the functions of gods- the three functions- creation, sustenance and destruction- are with the three prime Gods, the trinities, Brhama, Vishnu and Shiva. Then there are other gods and goddesses, having specific attributes, presiding deities of various human aspects of life and existence. They are worshipped and propitiated for specific purposes according to the wishes of the worshipper. You know that people worship Vighneswara for the removal of all obstacles, Lakshmi for wealth and prosperity, Saraswathi for vidya or learning and fine arts and so on. But all gods and goddesses are also manifestations of a single principle, the Ultimate, Paraashakthi. Everything (including all gods and goddesses) are manifestations of this Paraashakthi and into which everything merges at the end. Hinduism has a profound and majestic philosophy, touching upon all phases of human activities interpreting everything in terms of the Paramatma –Jeevatma concept, which itself is another manifestation of the Ultimate and derived from it. Ancient India’s profound utterances like Tat-twam-asi and Aham Brahmasmi emanated from this profound understanding that man being the manifestation of the ultimate is not different from It (the Ultimate). And when we realize that everything in this Universe is the manifestation of the Ultimate (Parashakthi), we also come to the zenith of Pantheism, visualizing the light of God the Ultimate, in everything, and therefore all organisms have the same status and right for existence on this earth.

Tree and plant worship is animism and it existed in its most vibrant form in India and the tradition still continues. Ancients believed that trees and animals too have souls; they have faculties like the capacity to converse and visualize the events around and so on and so forth. But the link between the ancient traditions and the modern generation is very weak; never the less one can discern this link even now. The impacts of Brahmanism from the early centuries have modified the animistic practices greatly.

Worship of plants still remains common in India, especially among the rural communities, and a variety of traditions and practices are still prevalent. At one level we have the village deity –Jagratha devata- or a deity for a small village forest (Vana devata) protecting and safeguarding the inhabitants of the village and worshipped by all irrespective of cast and creed. On the other hand there are the exclusive worship places or temples where members of other communities and even other sects of the same community are not permitted. Many such worship places are also associated with serpent worship and such temples are often physically associated with a tree – like a neem, or peepal or banyan. It is an established fact that tree worship and serpent worship are early stages, through which the human race passed. These are the lowest forms of worship, but at the same time the tree worship also has a higher level of symbolism. Swami Vivekandnada said (and I quote):
‘Tree worship and serpent worship always go together. There is the tree of knowledge. There must always be the tree, and the tree is somehow connected with the serpent. These are the oldest forms of worship. Even there you find that some particular tree or some particular stone is worshipped not all trees and stones in the world…. These are low states of worship, and yet worship. We all have to pass through them. It is only from an intellectual standpoint that they are not good enough. In our hearts we cannot get rid of them….
….There is still a higher order of formal worship- the world of symbolism… There are all sorts of symbols all over the world… there is some truth in symbolism. There cannot be any falsehood without some truth behind it… There is the symbolic form of worship in different religions.”


PN RAVINDRAN ( QUOTED FROM THE bOOK UNDER PREPARTION: NANADANOM- THE GARDEN OF GODS BY DR PN RAVINDRAN )