Ethnobotanical Studies on Japali Hanuman Theertham- A Sacred Grove of Tirumala hills, Andhra Pradesh, India

The present ethno-botanical exploration conducted in the forest area of Japali Hanuman Theertham a sacred grove of Tirumala hills during the period of 2010-2013 resulted in the information about the uses of traditional medicinal plants of 85 species belonging to 47 families to treat 46 types of ailmentsand utilization of different forest plant resources. Out of 85 plant species the dominant life forms of herbs (40), shrubs (17), trees (17), climbers (08), lianas (02) and creepers (01).The grove having endemic medicinal plants and owing to anthropogenic pressures, they are in extreme state of vulnerability. The information gathered from Japali Hanuman Theertham indicates that the tribal people of this region possess good knowledge of herbal drugs. The ethnomedicinal information has been eradicating day by day due to lack of proper interest in the younger generations of ethnic groups. Hence the present study had been focused on the ethnic groups of Tirumala who are collecting medicinal plants from Japali Hanuman Theertham, a sacred grove located in TirumalaSeshachalam hill range of Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India.The further research will be carried out on isolation of active ingredients from medicinal plant species for effective treatment of particular diseases and measures should be taken to conserve the endangering ethnomedicinal knowledge of Chenchu and Nakkala tribes for future generations and endangered medicinal plants for ecological balance and sustainable environmentdevelopment.