Traditional Knowledge in Indian Society

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The present compiled volume on 'Traditional Knowledge in Indian Society' is an outcome of the 11th Five Year Plan Project; "People of India, Cultural Diversity: Tangible and Intangible Heritage". The project was designed to document traditional knowledge of the people across the length and breadth of the country and to understand the efficacy of local cultural adaptations and expressions. India is known for its diversity in many ways in terms of ecology, language, culture etc. This diversity is also reflected in about 90 ecocultural zones of the country having rich and distinctive cultural traditions. Even while local adaptations and solutions for local problems reflect the wisdom of the people, indisputably, this timetested knowledge, handed over from one generation to the next, merits to be called people's science. It facilitates survival of local communities through sustainable ways of livelihood optimized vis a-vis local ecological conditions and cultural milieu. No doubt this people's science is a remarkable heritage of the humanity as it offers solutions to many of the day to day needs. It may also not be an exaggeration to say that these local solutions for local problems most of the times offer solutions to global problems. It is high time that we reorient what we call development into a self-sustaining process. Traditional knowledge could play a great role in this context making development a people friendly and eco-friendly process. Not but the least, when traditional knowledge of a people significantly helps others, pari passu the holders of the traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions need to be recognized, respected and compensated in the form of benefit sharing. The present edited volume is a step ahead in recognizing the rich traditional knowledge hidden in a large number of local cultural milieu in India. It is hoped that a repository of local cultural expressions would help reorient our society towards sustainable development, desirably and probably inevitably.

I take this opportunity of congratulating three of my distinguished colleagues who have put in their efforts in editing this volume and their respective teams of committed scholars. I am sure, the volume will be an excellent compendium on traditional knowledge in Indian societies and would be a guide to lead the future researchers on this subject.

In compiling the present shape of the volume several workshops were organized at Shillong, Udaipur and Mysore regional centres; the editors express their thanks to Heads of office of the respective regional centres. The editors also express their sincere gratitude to Prof. A. C. Bhagbati, Prof. P. K. Misra, Prof. Rajat K. Das, Prof. K. K. Misra, Prof. Yogesh Atal, Dr. Arun Chatterjee and Prof. H. K. Bhat who are invited experts and actively involved in various workshops and provided their views for improving the write-ups. The editors would like to express their gratitude to Dr. V. R. Rao, former Director-in-Charge and Joint Director of Anthropological Survey of India because during his tenure this project was initiated by the Survey.

Special thanks are due to Prof. K. K. Misra, Director, Anthropological Survey of India for his constant encouragement in organizing workshops for improvement of the report and finally extending his support in publication of the present treatise.

**Contents and Sample Pages**