Indian cultural practices as a manifestation of environmental world view—an exploration as a tool for environmental stress mitigation

Abstract

Population growth, and excessive exploitation of resources (air, water, and land) for consumerism-driven economy are among the few reasons for environmental degradation. The growing concern over this in recent years have resulted in several remedial steps taken by both government and nongovernment organizations, often manifested through environmental laws, regulations, and policies.The philosophical bases of such remedial steps are generally biased toward anthropocentric (or techno-centric) worldview. However, this paper posits that the traditional Indian philosophy toward environmental protection is based on conservative-nurturing (or eco-centric) world view, often manifested through cultural practices. The paper is an attempt to explore Indian cultural practices from the environmental worldview (EWV) perspective. This paper, at first, presents a review of the most popular EWV available in the literature. Then it discusses two Indian cultural practices and attempts to draw a philosophical relationship with these worldviews. The study of these two cultural practices indicates the manifestation of either conservative-nurturing or eco-centric worldview. The paper advocates that cultural practices are potential tools for environmental stress mitigation. This is supported by a few recent cases of environmental protection through cultural practices. The paper concludes that cultural practices have a great potential for environmental protection and such practices should be recognized, strengthened, and nurtured through research.