Worshipping of plants is an age old tradition of ancient India, which has taken a deep-root in believes, tradition and culture of India. This has provided the natives a need to undertake the traditional conservation practices, in the form of sacred grooves, which are forest areas protected by the rural communities since they believe that area to be the abode of their deities. This encourages interdependence between the forest and the local people for their livelihood. At the same time, it protects the delicate ecological balance, which has a key role to play in the sustainable development of mankind, but due to urbanization and modernization we are losing the sacred and valuable knowledge at a rapid pace, hence the need to document and preserve this diminishing sacred knowledge. The present study was done in and around Kullu region, of district Kullu (H.P.) India, lying between 31.2432°N and 32.2432°N latitude and 77.1455°E and 77.1892°E longitude covering an area of around 3,561 km² area. The study area Kullu, is also known as “Devbhoomi'' the land of Gods. Local inhabitants show hugh reverence and belief in their local deities which they consider supreme. For pleasing and worshipping these local ‘devats’, these people use various plants which are considered sacred hence utilized in various religious ceremonies. Thus, contribute immensely in the conserve of many plants while fulfilling their values in magico-religious beliefs. To maintain these age-old faiths, people of these areas harvest plants, sustainably and economically. The paper includes the list of around 75 species of 46 families that have been reported from three tehsils of Kullu region. These plants are used for Magico-religious beliefs along with their medicinal value, thus helping in ex-situ conservation of plants and sustainable development of the area.

Background: Local inhabitants of Kullu region of Himachal Pradesh, use various sacred plants for pleasing and worshipping local 'devats', in various religious ceremonies, but we are losing the sacred valuable knowledge at a rapid pace, hence the need to document and preserve this knowledge.Method: Ethno-botanical survey, field visits were conducted in different parts of Kullu district. Indigenous people, shamans, tantric, and local elderly members of society were consulted to collect the data. Informal discussions and interviews were done for data collection. Different use categories, the basic variables like frequency of citation (FC), use reports (UR), the number of uses (NU) and the ethno-botanical indices like relative frequency of citations (RFC), relative importance index (RI), cultural importance index (CI), and cultural value index (CV) were determined and compared.Result: The paper includes the list of 75 species under 46 families, used for Magico-religious beliefs along with their medicinal value. Most utilized parts were flowers, whole plant, leaves, seeds, followed by fruits. Ficus religiosa L.showed highest value in all the indices (CI =2, RFC=1, RI= 0.75), with highest number of citation (FC=25), Use report (UR=50), followed by Ocimum sanctum L. Conclusion:To maintain the age-old faiths, people of these areas, harvest plants sustainably and economically, these practices contribute in the ex-situ conservation of plants while fulfilling their values in magico-religious beliefs, as well as sustainable development of the area. Study also reveals the status of 21 rare plant species which need conservation.