SACRED GROVES

RIYA SINGH
PLANT BIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
WHAT ARE SACRED GROVES
According to CPREEC-A sacred Grove
comprises patches of natural vegetation
– from a few trees to several acres – that
are dedicated to local deities or tree
spirits. These spaces are protected by
local communities because of their
religious beliefs and traditional rituals
that run through several generations.
 ORIGIN OF SACRED GROVES
They are different believes for the
origin of Sacred
It is it is believed that shifting
cultivation can be one of the reasons
behind the origin of Sacred groups .
sacred grooves might have also
originated as result of its utilitarian
nature social institution or as a part of
taboo that evolved historically over
sever generation to provide a site for
cultural crucial social interactions
According to Malhotra (1998), around
13,270 groves have been reported from
all over the country.
SACRED GROVES DISTRIBUTION IN WORLD
SACRED GROVES OF INDIA
LOCAL NAMES OF SACRED GROVES
 TYPES OF SACRED GROVES

Sacred groves may be classified into four categories as mentioned below:

 Local village sacred groves,- which are managed by the entire village,
although the village may be composed of several tribal communities and
ethnic groups.
 Regional sacred groves, which are managed by a temple trust, and which
are visited by people from several districts (e.g. Sabarimala sacred
grove,Kerala).
 Pan-Indian sacred groves, which are large and are managed by a temple
trust, where people from many parts of the country visit and worship the deity,
(e.g. Garhwal Himalayas).
 Sacred groves as the abode of ancestral spirits, which are both a burial
ground and location of deity and ancestor worship
OWNERSHIP OF SACRED GROVES

Understanding ownership of the groves has become an absolute necessity as it provides insights
directly and indirectly about the proximate and ultimate drivers that affect the overall area and the
status of the groves. The nature of ownership provides insights into
(i) The degree and kind of intervention allowed in the grove
(ii) The framing of rules and regulations (as a code of conduct) and norms of behaviour
(iii) Punishment of offenders
Types of ownership in sacred groves:
1. Village councils (panchayat)
2. Temple trusts
3. Local forest department
4. Individual families
SACRED GROVES OF TAMILNADU
 TAMILNADU
 Tamil Nadu Forest Department with the assistance of the C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre, Chennai have carried
out survey of Sacred Groves in Tamil Nadu during 2011.The survey listed about 1262 Sacred Groves in Tamil Nadu.
Many of the Sacred Groves are reservoirs of rare fauna and flora especially those located within Protected and Notified
areas
 These groves range in size from one to 500 acres. The sacred groves in Tamil Nadu are known as Koil Kaadu, Swami
Thopu, Swami Sholai or Ayyappan Kaavu (in Kanyakumari).
 The deities associated with the groves are Aiyanar, Sastha, Muniswaran Karuppuswami, Vedappar, Andavar and Amman.
 The characteristic feature of sacred groves in Tamil Nadu is the offering of terracotta horses to Aiyanar, the village
kaval kaaran (watchman) at the shrine of the mother Goddess. The horses are offered to him to go around the
village in order to guard it
 SACRED ANIMALS AND PLANTS OF SACRED GROVES
Sacred birds and animals
PEACOCK,CROW,COW,BUFFALO,FRUIT EATING BIRDS ,SNAKE,BOAR,BRAHMINARY KITE
Sacred trees
Vembu (Neem)
Ficus religiosa
Ficus benghalensis
Vanni (Prosopis spicigera) – The Vanni tree is associated with Lord Vishnu
Punnai (Calophyllum inophyllum)
Endemic plants
The sacred groves in the Kanyakumari district harbour many of the rare endemic plants of the Western Ghats such as Antiaris
toxicaria, Diospyros malabarica, Diospyros ebenum, Feronia elephantum, Butea frondosa, Garcinia cambogia, Sterculia
foetida, Gnetum ula and Cycas circinalis (Sukumaran and Raj, 1999)
FESTIVAL ASSOCIATED WITH SACRED GROVES

 In Hariyali Devi and Tungnath Sacred Groves, festivals (locally called as melas) are
organized
during April and October every year on the occasion of Navratri, Shivratri, Holi, and so forth.
 At these melas (festivals), the local communities reaffirm their commitment to the forest

and the deity.

• Many plant species have also been associated with religious festivals,
namely, Azadirachta indica (Sheela Asthami, Nimb Saptami), Ficus
bengalensis (Vat Savitri), Aegle marmelos (Bilvamengal), Musa
paradisiaca (Kadii Vrat), and Ficus religiosa (Somvati Amavasya),
due to popular and common beliefs
TABOOS ASSOCIATED WITH HARIYALI DEVI AND TUNGNATH
SACRED GROVES.

1. Women are strictly prohibited from entering the sacred forest due to the belief that they are impure
2. Use of tools in any form (knife, sickle, etc.) on the plants and animals will be a step to hurt the sentiments of Devi
(goddess). The forest fairies in turn are angered and their wrath can make person mad or deformed and also can
lead to disaster in the family of offender.
3. For a person who starts his journey, if a snake comes across his way, then he has to stop the journey and has
to restart only after worshipping the god after an interval of a week.
4. One week before pilgrimage, the villagers stop eating onion, garlic, egg, and meat.
5. Anything that is made up of leather is prohibited in the temple and grove.
6. Killing/hunting of animals and plucking/uprooting of plants are strictly forbidden in the SGs.
 TAMILNADU

C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre took up a survey of Sacred Groves in Tamilnadu .. The study was conducted
to:
1.Precisely locate and map the groves and to prepare an inventory
2. Demarcate the sacred groves based on the availability of endemic and threatened plants
3.Suggest measures for the preservation and effective management of the threatened groves
4. Study the socio-economic and cultural importance of the groves
IMPORTANCE OF SACRED GROVES

 Biodiversity conservation
 They serve as storehouses of genetic diversity
 As repositories of valuable genetic resources of rare, endangered, vulnerable, threatened and endemic plant and
animal species, wild relatives of domesticated plant species and remnants of the primeval undisturbed forests, thus
serve as a sanctuary for in situ conservation of genetic resources.
 Identification of plants listed under different categories such as rare, endemic, threatened, vulnerable, endangered
in IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) Red list in sacred groves
suggests that these plants exist in these groves and can be regenerated if they vanish in nearby forests..
IMPORTANCE OF SACRED GROVES

 Recharge of aquifers
 Soil conservation and fertility.
 Climate regions regulation of the local hydrology.
 Maintenance of the nutrients cycles.
 Provide aesthetic scenic beauty to the landscape
 Religious importance
 Ethnobotanical knowledge of local
 Sacred groves are rich source of medicinal plants
THREATS TO SACRED GROVES
Population explosion
Encroachment of groves for industrialization
Sacred groves cleared for cultivating cash crops
Deforestation
 Habitat destruction
 The domination of alien species such as Eupatorium odoratum, Lantana camara, Prosopis juliflora and Hyptis
suaveolens often threatens and depletes the local species.
Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas (CSVPA) (Maintained
by IUCN, it provides input on policies relating to sacred sites)

Source: https://www.nature.org/en-us/

Source: https://www.nature.org/en-us
United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
(UNDRIP) (Adopted on 13th September, 2007)
Article 12
“Indigenous peoples have the right to manifest, practice, develop and teach their spiritual and religious traditions,
customs and ceremonies; the right to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites;
the right to the use and control of their ceremonial objects; and the right to the repatriation of their human remains.”
CPR Environmental Education Centre (CPREEC) (It is established jointly by the Ministry of Environment,
Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC), Government of India, and The C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation in the
year 1989)
Till date CPREEC has successfully restored 53 sacred groves in the States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and
Karnataka.
RESTORATION OF SACRED GROVES

Restoration from 1993 to 2018

 Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (Bhopal)
(Maintained by Ministry of Culture, GOI)
“The Museum of Mankind ’is a museum for sacred groves with the
goal of raising
Awareness of the important role of these ancient forests play in
conservation”
 Sacred groves have been legally protected under ‘community
reserves’ in the
Wildlife (Protection)Amendment Act, 2002.
 Tamilnadu forest act, 1882 also help in protection of these
sacred groves in state of Tamilnadu.
 In the year 1730, in the village of khejaldi in Jodhpur district, 363 Bishnoi women gave up their lives to
protect the trees, giving rise to the ‘Chipko movement’. Khejarli trees (Prosopis spicigera), Are considered
sacred by these community
REFERENCE

 Amirthalingam, M., 2016. Sacred groves of India – An overview

 The sacred groves and their significance in conserving biodiversity: an overview KHAN* ,
ASHALATA DEVI KHUMBONGMAYUM AND R.S. TRIPATHI (2008)
 SACRED GROVES AND ITS ROLE IN BIODIVERSITY Conservation-Sunandani Chandel
 Conserving Water & Biodiversity: Traditions of Sacred Groves in India -Mala Agarwal
 Sacred Groves: Myths, Beliefs, and Biodiversity Conservation—A Case Study from Western Himalaya,
India Sushma Singh,1Mudasir Youssouf,2Zubair A. Malik,3and Rainer W. Bussmann
 http://cpreec.org
 https://www.forests.tn.gov.in/Sacred-Groves-Of-TN
Thank you