Comprehension: Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
Comprehension:
Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.
Sacred trees form an important part of the ecological heritage of India. Most temples, towns, villages—and sometimes even Muslim dargahs—are associated with trees. Some plants are sacred to the individual deity; others are sacred to the place… Several plants have been worshipped in India from time immemorial. Wherever the tulsi grows—from the Indo-Gangetic plains to the shores of the Indian Ocean at Kanyakumari—it occupies a position of pride in the central courtyard of the house, tended to, carefully, by the housewife.
Apart from the elaborate myths connecting it to Krishna, the tulsi plant has several medicinal properties. To protect and revere this plant with so many medicinal properties, it was designated as sacred, a fitting tribute to its role in providing invaluable healthcare. The worship of plants is an ancient phenomenon in India. It is probably the oldest form of worship. The association of a single tree with a sacred sthala or sthana is reflected in the chaitya vriksha and sthala vriksha or literature and society.
When people turned to food production, the Mother Goddess or the Earth Mother became the chief deity. Fertility, creation, and the world of plants and animals became her blessings to her devotees. The worship of the tree was the adoration of her creative abilities, symbolising fertility so essential or the survival of the early people. Spirits—good or bad—were believed to reside in trees. If the trees were worshipped, then the resident spirits were pleased. As sacred forests were replaced by agriculture, a single tree was left and was designated as 'sacred' tree.
The earliest temples were little more than images placed under trees. Later, the tree and the image were enclosed by a fence made of wood, followed even by stone. Numerous references are made in literature to trees as abodes of gods.
SubQuestion No : 16
From the given options identify the most appropriate ANTONYM of the underlined word as used in the passage.
Some plants are sacred to the individual *deity*; others are sacred to the place.
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Correct answer: (C) Ogre
Explanation
"Deity" means a god. The most nearly opposite option is "ogre", a cruel monster or evil being, as opposed to a divine one.