Me &My Family
1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
GENERAL
Sacred groves have existed from time immemorial all over the world as patches of densely wooded areas, harbouring unique flora and fauna with perennial water sources in the vicinity. Many sacred groves have been preserved as sust ainable resources, ensuring the basic capital intact and hence considered valuable gene pool and the first major effort to recognize and conserve biodiversity. In India, they are known from the Himalayas, Northeast
India, and highlands of Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu and Kerala.
Locally they are known variously as “Ka Law Kyntang”/“Ka Law
Adong”/“Ka Law Lyngdoh” in Meghalaya, “Than” in Assam, „Oran‟/“Vani”/“Kenkri” in
Rajasthan, “Devrai”/“Deviahate” in Maharastra, “Sarana” in Central India, “Nandavana” and
“Kovilkadu” in Tamil Nadu, “Devarkadu”/“Kan”/“Sidharavanam” in Karnataka, “Kavu” in
Andhra Pradesh, and “Kavu”/ “Sarpakkavu”/“Nagavanam” in Kerala. In the first document on sacred groves, Brandis (1897) states that “Very little has been published regarding sacred groves in India, but they are, or rather were very numerous… These, as a rule are not touched by the axe, except when wood is wanted for repair of religious buildings”. Gadgil and Vartak (1975) observed that in many parts of India, sacred groves represent surviving examples of climax vegetation and are disappearing under the influence of modernization. In the words of Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, the sacred groves, “Unlike a botanical garden, where a wide range of trees and plants are collected and cultivated for the purpose of our education and enjoyment, the sacred groves are one method of expressing the gratitude of human families to the trees which sustain and support life under a given agro -ecological condition.”
The age-old system of having a temple, a tank and associated sacred grove explains the ancient method of water harvesting and sharing in villages of Kerala. As an
INTRODUCTION
1.1
GENERAL
Sacred groves have existed from time immemorial all over the world as patches of densely wooded areas, harbouring unique flora and fauna with perennial water sources in the vicinity. Many sacred groves have been preserved as sust ainable resources, ensuring the basic capital intact and hence considered valuable gene pool and the first major effort to recognize and conserve biodiversity. In India, they are known from the Himalayas, Northeast
India, and highlands of Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil
Nadu and Kerala.
Locally they are known variously as “Ka Law Kyntang”/“Ka Law
Adong”/“Ka Law Lyngdoh” in Meghalaya, “Than” in Assam, „Oran‟/“Vani”/“Kenkri” in
Rajasthan, “Devrai”/“Deviahate” in Maharastra, “Sarana” in Central India, “Nandavana” and
“Kovilkadu” in Tamil Nadu, “Devarkadu”/“Kan”/“Sidharavanam” in Karnataka, “Kavu” in
Andhra Pradesh, and “Kavu”/ “Sarpakkavu”/“Nagavanam” in Kerala. In the first document on sacred groves, Brandis (1897) states that “Very little has been published regarding sacred groves in India, but they are, or rather were very numerous… These, as a rule are not touched by the axe, except when wood is wanted for repair of religious buildings”. Gadgil and Vartak (1975) observed that in many parts of India, sacred groves represent surviving examples of climax vegetation and are disappearing under the influence of modernization. In the words of Dr. M. S. Swaminathan, the sacred groves, “Unlike a botanical garden, where a wide range of trees and plants are collected and cultivated for the purpose of our education and enjoyment, the sacred groves are one method of expressing the gratitude of human families to the trees which sustain and support life under a given agro -ecological condition.”
The age-old system of having a temple, a tank and associated sacred grove explains the ancient method of water harvesting and sharing in villages of Kerala. As an