Sacred groves of India

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For the article about sacred groves in general, see Sacred grove

Sacred groves in India refer to tracts of usually virgin forests of varying sizes, which are communally protected, and which usually have a significant religious connotation for the protecting community. Hunting and logging are usually strictly prohibited within these patches. [1] Other forms of forest usage like honey collection and deadwood collection are sometimes allowed on a sustainable basis. Sacred groves did not enjoy protection via federal legislation in India. Some NGOs work with local villagers to protect such groves. Traditionally, and in some cases even today, members of the community take turns to protect the grove. [2] However, the introduction of the protected area category community reserves under the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 has introduced legislation for providing government protection to community held lands, which could include sacred groves.

Indian sacred groves are sometimes associated with temples / monasteries / shrines or with burial grounds (which is the case in Shinto and Ryukyuan religion-based sacred groves respectively in Japan). Sacred groves may be loosely used to refer to other natural habitat protected on religious grounds, such as Alpine Meadows.

Historical references to sacred groves can be obtained from ancient classics as far back as Kalidasa's Vikramuurvashiiya.

Contents

[edit] Beliefs

Typically, such groves are associated with the concept of a "presiding deity". While most of these sacred deities are associated with local Hindu gods, sacred groves of Islamic and Buddhist origins, and some based on smaller local religions and folk religions (like the folk deities ayyanar and amman ) are also known of. There are over 1000 deities associated with sacred groves in the states of Kerala and Karnataka alone.

[edit] Locations

Sacred groves are scattered all over the country, and are referred to by different names in different parts of India. Sacred groves occur in a variety of places - from scrub forests in the Thar Desert of Rajasthan maintained by the Bishnois, to rain forests in the Kerala Western Ghats. Himachal Pradesh in the North and Kerala in the South are specifically known for their large numbers of sacred groves. [3]

Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings. Experts believe that the total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000. [4] [5]

It is estimated that around 1000 sq. km. of unexploited land is inside sacred groves. Some of the more famous groves are the kavus of Kerala, which are located in the Western Ghats and have enormous biodiversity; and the law kyntangs of Manipur - sacred groves associated with every village (two large groves being in Mawphlang and Mausmai) to appease the forest spirit.

Among the largest sacred groves of India are the ones in Hariyali, near Ganchar in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, and the Deodar grove in Shipin near Simla in Himachal Pradesh.

State No of groves Local name References
Andhra Pradesh 750 B. R. P. Rao [6]
Arunachal Pradesh 65 Gumpa forests
(since attached
to monasteries)		 Dudley et al [7]
Assam 40 Than, Madaico
Chhattisgarh 600* Sarna, Devlas,
Mandar, Budhadev
Goa NA* SERBC document [8]
Gujarat 29*
Haryana 248
Himachal Pradesh 5000 Deo bhumi
Jharkhand 21* Sarna Marine Carrin [9]
Karnataka 1424 Devarakadu,
Devarkan		 Gadgil et al [10]
Kerala 2000 Kavu M. Jayarajan [11]
Madhya Pradesh 21* Devkot, Matikot,
Devsthali, Budhadev
Maharashtra 1600 Deorai/Devrai

(Pune, Ratnagiri,
Raigarh, Kolhapur
districts)

 Waghchaure et al [12]
Manipur 365 Gamkhap, Mauhak
(sacred bamboo
reserves)		 Khumbongyam et al [13]
Meghalaya 79 Law kyntang,
Law lyngdhoh		 Upadhyay et al [14]
Orissa 322* Jahera, Thakuramma
Pondicherry 108 Kovil Kadu Ramanujam et al [15]
Rajasthan 9* Oraan (Jaiselmer,
Jodhpur, Bikaner),
Kenkri (Ajmer),
Vani (Mewar),
Shamlat deh
(Alwar), Jogmaya
Sikkim 56 Gumpa forests
(since attached
to monasteries)		 S. S. Dash [16]

Dudley et al [7]
Tamil Nadu 503 Kovil Kadu M. Amrithalingam [17]
Uttarakhand 18* Deobhumi, Bugyal
(sacred alpine
meadows)		 Anthwal et al [18]
West Bengal 670* Garamthan, Harithan,
Jahera, Sabitrithan,
Santalburithan		 R. K. Bhakat [19]

All numbers are quoted from the records of the C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre of the Government of India. Starred numbers are likely to increase. The centre also maintains a complete list of identified sacred groves in India, most of which is online. [20]

[edit] Uses

Traditional uses: One of the most important traditional uses of sacred groves was that it acted as a repository for various Ayurvedic medicines. Other uses involved a source of replenishable resources like fruits and honey. However, in most sacred groves it was taboo to hunt or chop wood. The vegetation cover helps reduce soil erosion and prevents desertification, as in Rajasthan. The groves are often associated with ponds and streams, and meet water requirements of local communities. They sometimes help in recharging aquifers as well.

Modern uses: In modern times, sacred groves have become biodiversity hotspots, as various species seek refuge in the areas due to progressive habitat destruction, and hunting. Sacred groves often contain plant and animal species that have become extinct in neighboring areas. They therefore harbor great genetic diversity. Besides this, sacred groves in urban landscapes act as "lungs" to the city as well, providing much needed vegetation cover.

[edit] Threats

Threats to the grove include urbanization, over-exploitation of resources (like overgrazing and excessive fuelwood collection), and environmental destruction due to religious practices. While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu gods, in the recent past a number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples. [4] Other threats to the sacred groves include invasion by invasive species, like the invasive flora Eupatorium odoratum, Lantana camara and Prosopis juliflora.

[edit] Traditions

A large number of distinct local art forms and folk traditions are associated with the deities of sacred groves, and are an important cultural aspect closely associated with sacred traditions. Ritualistic dances and dramatizations based on the local deities that protect the groves are called Theyyam in Kerala and Nagmandalam, among other names, in Karnataka. Often, elaborate rituals and traditions are associated with sacred groves [21], as are associated folk tales and folk mythology.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gadgil, M. and Vartak, V.D. ; Sacred groves of India : A plea for continued conservation Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 72 : 314-320, 1975
  2. ^ Sudha, P., Rekha, P. V., Gunaga, V. S., Patagar, S., Naik, M. B., Indu, K. M., and N. H Ravindranath, Community Forest Management and Joint Forest Management: An Ecological, Economic and Institutional Assessment in Western Ghats, India, Presented at "Crossing Boundaries", the seventh annual conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, June 10-14, 1998
  3. ^ A series of articles in the journal Down to Earth on sacred groves
  4. ^ a b Malhotra, K. C., Ghokhale, Y., Chatterjee, S. and Srivastava, S., Cultural and Ecological Dimensions of Sacred Groves in India, INSA, New Delhi, 2001
  5. ^ Ramachandra Guha, The Unquiet Woods, University of California Press, 2000 (ISBN 978-0520222359)
  6. ^ B. Ravi Prasad Rao, Conservation of threatened flora in sacred groves of Southern Andhra Pradesh, Symposium On National Biodiversity and Ecosystem Information Infrastructure (NBEII): Challenges and Potentials, Pune, 2006
  7. ^ a b Ed. N. Dudley, L. Higgins-Zogib, and S. Mansourian; The Arguments for Protection Series - Beyond Belief: Linking faiths and protected areas to support biodiversity conservation, pp. 91-95; World Wide Fund for Nature, 2005 (ISBN 2-88085-270-6)
  8. ^ Website of the Sacred Grove Restoration Project, Society for Ecological Restoration
  9. ^ Marine Carrin, Santal autonomy as a social ecology, 16th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, Edinburgh, 2000
  10. ^ Gadgil, M., D. Subash Chandran, Sacred Groves and Sacred Trees of Uttara Kannada, Lifestyle and Ecology, edited by Baidyanath Saraswati. New Delhi: Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts 1998
  11. ^ M. Jayarajan, Sacred Groves of North Malabar, Kerala Research Programme on Local Level Development, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram (ISBN 81-87621-95-8)
  12. ^ Waghchaure, Chandrakant K.; Tetali, Pundarikakshudu; Gunale, Venkat R.; Antia, Noshir H.; Birdi, Tannaz J., Sacred Groves of Parinche Valley of Pune District of Maharashtra, India and their Importance, Anthropology & Medicine, Volume 13, Number 1, April 2006, pp. 55-76(22)
  13. ^ Khumbongmayum, M.D., Khan, M.L., and Tripath, R.S, Sacred groves of Manipur – ideal centres for biodiversity conservation, Current Science, Vol 87, No 4, 25 Aug 2004
  14. ^ Upadhaya, K.; Pandey, H.N. 2; Law, P.S.; Tripathi, R.S; Tree diversity in sacred groves of the Jaintia hills in Meghalaya, northeast India, Biodiversity and Conservation, Volume 12, Number 3, March 2003, pp. 583-597(15)
  15. ^ M.P. Ramanujam and K. Praveen Kumar Cyril, Woody species diversity of four sacred groves in the Pondicherry region of South India, Biomedical and Life Sciences and Earth and Environmental Science, Volume 12, Number 2 / February, 2003, Springer Netherlands
  16. ^ S. S. Dash, Kabi sacred grove of North Sikkim Current Science, Vol 89, No 3, 10 Aug 2005
  17. ^ M. Amirthalingam, Sacred Groves of Tamil Nadu – A Survey, CPR Environmental Education Centre, Chennai, India, p. 191, 1998
  18. ^ Ashish Anthwal, Ramesh C. Sharma, and Archana Sharma, Sacred Groves: Traditional Way of Conserving Plant Diversity in Garhwal Himalaya, Uttaranchal, The Journal of American Science, 2(2), 2006, Anthwal et al, Sacred Groves: Conserving Plant Diversity
  19. ^ Ram Kumar Bhakat, Socio-religious and ecological perspective of a sacred grove from Midnapore district, West Bengal, Science and Culture (Sci. Cult.), 2003, vol. 69, no 11-12, pp. 371-374
  20. ^ Database at the CPR Environmental Education Centre
  21. ^ Chris A. Gregory, The Oral Epics of the Women of the Dandakaranya Plateau: A Preliminary Mapping, J. Soc. Sci., 8(2): 93-104 (2004)
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