SACRED GROVES - ENVIRONMENT
News: Recreating
sacred groves in Tamil Nadu’s northern region
What's in the news?
● Once
found in plenty across the country, sacred groves have shrunk in many places
due to rampant encroachments, the spread of invasive species, and unfettered
human interference.
Key takeaways:
● In
Tamil Nadu’s arid northern Villupuram region, the Hindu Religious and
Charitable Endowments (HR & CE) Department, which administers 1,500 temples
in the Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts, has embarked on a project to
protect these forest patches by recreating sacred groves.
● Along
with nature enthusiasts and volunteers, the Department has now launched a
campaign to maintain and protect these fragile ecosystems, which are vestiges
of the past and recreate them on temple lands.
● Every
temple has a Sthala Vriksham (sacred
plant) and that denotes the importance given for plants and trees in the
ancient days. A lot of these forest patches are found in Villupuram, Cuddalore,
Puducherry, and the Coromandel Coast.
● While
they are being protected in a few temples, the groves have been shrinking in
size in others due to anthropogenic activities and the need is to protect them.
SACRED GROVES:
● Sacred
groves are communally protected forests
which usually have a significant religious connotation for the protecting
community.
● The
Sacred Groves comprises patches of forest or natural vegetation that are
usually dedicated to local folk deities.
● Indian
sacred groves are often associated with
temples, monasteries, shrines or with burial grounds.
Regulation of activities:
● Hunting and logging are
usually strictly prohibited within these patches.
● Other
forms of forest usage like honey collection and deadwood collection are
sometimes allowed on a sustainable basis.
● 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.
Legal back up:
● The
introduction of the protected area category community reserves under the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002
has introduced legislation for providing government protection to community
held lands, which include sacred groves.
● Among
the largest sacred groves of India are the ones in Hariyali, near Gauchar in
Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, and the Deodar grove in Shipin near Shimla in
Himachal Pradesh.
In India, there are over a lakh sacred groves
across different states called by different names like Kaavu in Malayalam, Kovil Kadu in Tamil, Orans in Rajasthan, Devara
kaadu in Karnataka, and Sernas in Madhya Pradesh