A sacred grove or sacred woods are any grove of trees that are of special religious importance to a particular culture. They feature in various cultures throughout the world. Sacred groves are tracts of virgin forest with rich diversity, which have been protected by the local people for centuries for their cultural and religious beliefs and taboos that the deities reside in them and protect the villagers from different calamities.
Every sacred grove carries its own legends, lore, and myths which form the integral part of the sacred grove. An inextricable link between present society and past in terms of biodiversity, culture, religious and ethnic heritage exists in sacred groves. Sacred groves are distributed across the globe, and diverse cultures recognize them in different ways encoding various rules for their protection. Sacred groves occur in many parts of India like western ghats, central India, northeast India, etc. particularly where the indigenous communities live.
Sacred groves act as an ideal center for biodiversity conservation. Several plants and animals that are threatened in the forest are still well conserved in some of the sacred groves. It has been observed that several medicinal plants that are not to be found in the forest are abundant in the sacred groves. Further, rare, endangered, threatened and endemic species are often concentrated in sacred groves. The sacredness, religious beliefs and taboos play a significant role in promoting sustainable utilization and conservation of flora and fauna of the region. However, with the passage of time, considerable changes have taken place in the extent of the sacred groves, in their vegetation structure, peoples’ perception towards them and the religious beliefs and taboos. Therefore, a holistic understanding of the current status, structure and function of sacred grove is essential for assessing their ecological role and formulating strategies for their conservation. This paper briefly reviews the studies on sacred groves across the globe in general and India in particular, highlighting that the tradition of sacred groves could provide a powerful tool for ensuring biodiversity conservation through community participation.
One such example from India is the sacred groves in Mawphlang, about 25 km from Shillong. The Sacred Grove in Mawphlang is mystical forest with 800 year old tradition relevant even today. The sacred grove has an amazing life form of plants, flowering trees, orchids and butterflies. Legend has it that the forest is protected by the Lyngdoh clan. Though it was earlier ruled by Blah clan, they struggled to control the massive forest and decided to choose another protector. The clan found a woman belonging to the Lyngdoh clan, who had a son. She acceded to their demands on the condition that if the five saplings she had planted grew into trees, she would let her son take over the forest. As it turned out, the saplings grew beautifully. Locals often flock to this sacred forest to celebrate nature and other festivals. This sprawling forest comes alive, especially during the three-day monolith festival held here that showcases the tribal heritage and culture. There are a lot of stone altars in the forest. The altars, now covered with green moss, were a part of rituals performed to appease the forest spirits.
There is only one rule, however, to be followed in this sacred forest. And, that is — “You cannot take anything out of this forest, else the deity gets upset”. Removing even the tiniest thing from the forest means you’re disrespecting the deity. It is said that whoever attempts to break this rule is punished with illness, which can even lead to death. In fact, local lore says that in 1970, the army tried taking out the dead wood and trees from this forest, but they were not able to do so as the truck didn’t start even after trying multiple times. Today the Sacred Forest is owned by the Khasi community of Mawphlang. It is interesting to see that most forests in Meghalaya are not owned by the government, but by the local tribes and communities, who’re known to take better care of the forests.
It is an amazing visual spectacle, plus there is a widespread belief that some of these plants possess medicinal properties, including the ability to cure tuberculosis and cancer. In addition, there are monoliths inside the forest that are considered to be the spot for sacrifices. The local tribal people sacrifice animals here to make their wishes come true.
An abstract illustration.
The illustration below shows how the power of ancestors protect the sacred groves. Praying for the conservation of the forest which is an important part of our lives and a habitat for many creatures out there.
