o make sure they do
not carry anything belonging to the grove. Trees in the area cannot be cut or felled, and
all deadwood found in the forest is used in the temple located in the grove. There are
hundreds of such groves in Himachal Pradesh.
- Sacred groves in the hills of Garhwal and
Kumaon are mentioned in old Hindu scriptures like the Puranas. The largest known
sacred grove is in Hariyali, near Ganchar in Chamoli District. Others include Askot,
Binsar, and Gananath. In all these areas, fairs are held regularly and rituals performed.
But the trees seem to have lost their religious importance in the minds of the people.
- Some of the richest groves in the country
are found in the Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, where almost every village is said to have had
a grove, known locally as the law kyntangs. The largest of them are in
Mawphlang and Mausmai. These groves are a storehouse of a large number of rare plant
species. The local people believe that the forest spirit will kill anyone who damages the
plants and other life forms in the groves. This has contributed greatly to the
preservation of these forests.
- In Bihar sacred groves, known as sarnas,
are found mainly in the Chotanagpur region. These areas are not very large and consist of
2 to 20 trees. They are usually full of creepers, shrubs, and grasses.
- The sacred groves of Rajasthan are the oraans
of Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Bikaner, the kenkris of Ajmer, the vanis of
Mewar, and the shamlat dehs of Alwar. The oraans cover the largest
area, though their species diversity differs from area to area.
- Maharashtra has about 250 sacred groves,
known as deorais or devrais, in the districts of Pune, Ratnagiri, Raigad,
and Kolhapur. These areas are full of a large variety of rare species with great
- Kerala has about 240 sacred groves, known as
kavus, where more than 3000 rare species of plants are found. The largest grove,
spread over more than 20 hectares, is in Ernakulam District.
Sacred groves exist in other parts of the
world too. In The Golden Bough, author James Frazer says that people have
worshipped forests right from the Palaeolithic age, thereby preserving them. In ancient
Greece and Rome stone walls usually enclosed these forests. Initially these forests began
as open-air temples but even after huge temples were built they continued to be protected.
Many of them contained streams and lakes that were also considered sacred, and no one was
allowed to fish in them or pollute them. Such groves exist in countries such as Ghana,
Syria, and Turkey. The survival of these groves depends entirely on the control of the
community over the forest and the people. Usually these areas are designated as holy and
dedicated to a god or a goddess.
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