Sacred groves: Traditional practice and modern ecology

Sacred groves are maintained by many tribal communities across India like the Santals and tribal communities in the Nilgiri mountain range of Tamil Nadu, adjoining Wayanad District, and the Kaani community Kanyakumari region on both sides of the border between Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Some of their ancestral forests, sacred streams and mountains are now listed among the world’s “biodiversity hotspots” entitled to protection in accordance with the “Hyderabad biodiversity pledge”. | Learn more >>

Due to the ‘fear factor’, and restricted location, the ecosystem of many such forest fragments remains undisturbed, permitting them to form their own natural eco-balance over the years. “With the accumulation of falling leaves, deadwood, plant and animal remains and other debris for decades, the soil bed at sacred groves becomes rich in humus, making the land immensely fertile. This also helps absorb and retain water, boosting the groundwater level. It acts as natural filtration too. This can be tapped as a good source for drinking water,” says Thulasidas G., a technical officer of the Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute. | Read the full article in The Hindu (12 January 2018) >>

Some activists identify with customary meeting places including sacred groves as to get enumerated in the Census as members of a separate religion (“Sarna dharm”): “Otherwise, we stand to lose our tradition both ways. Some give in to the Church, others migrate, and a few of them get to recite Hanuman Chalisa in the morning […]” – Krishna Kant Toppo (quoted in the Indian Express, August 13, 2017), in response to the Religious Freedom Bill (or “anti-conversion” bill) which was passed by the Jharkhand Government in August 2017 “to penalise religious conversions through coercion or allurement” | Read the full article “Under the faith microscope” by Prashant Pande >>

See also

Adverse inclusion | Casteism | Rural poverty

Childhood

Crafts and visual arts

Demographic Status of Scheduled Tribe Population of India (Census figures 2011)

Denotified Tribes, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes – Report and Recommendations (Technical Advisory Group)

Fact checking | Figures, census and other statistics

Human Rights Commission (posts) | www.nhrc.nic.in (Government of India)

Imprisonment & rehabilitation

Search tips | Names of tribal communities, regions and states of India

State wise population of Scheduled Tribes (ST) and their percentage to the total population in the respective states and to the total STs population

“What are the Rights of Scheduled Tribes? – Government of India (National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, NCST)

“What is the Forest Rights Act about?” – Campaign for Survival and Dignity

“Who are Scheduled Tribes?” – Government of India (National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, NCST)

Usage in legal and historical records

“[A] common perception of conversion, prevalent in India, is that all conversions take place only among deprived lower caste or tribal groups, which are considered more susceptible to allurement or coercion. The reality of upper caste conversions is ignored in this climate of cynicism.”– Dr. Ivy Imogene Hansdak in Pandita Ramabai Saraswati: the convert as ‘heretic’

Up-to-date reports by Indian journalists and commentators

List of Indian magazines and web portals covered by the present Custom search engine

https://caravanmagazine.in

https://countercurrents.org

https://frontline.thehindu.com

www.indiatoday.in

www.india-seminar.com

www.livemint.com

https://openthemagazine.com

www.outlookindia.com

www.ruralindiaonline.org

scroll.in

www.sanctuaryasia.com

www.thebetterindia.com

www.theweek.in

https://thewire.in

To search Indian periodicals, magazines, web portals and other sources safely, click here. To find an Indian PhD thesis on a particular tribal community, region and related issues, click here >>

Search tips

Combine the name of any particular state, language or region with that of any tribal (Adivasi) community.

Add keywords of special interest (health, nutrition endangered language, illegal mining, sacred grove); learn about the rights of Scheduled Tribes such as the “Forest Rights Act” (FRA); and the United Nations “Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples”, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights”, “women’s rights”, or “children’s right to education”.

Specify any other issue or news item you want to learn more about (biodiversity, bonded labour and human trafficking, climate change, ecology, economic development, ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, global warming, Himalayan tribe, hunter-gatherers in a particular region or state, prevention of rural poverty, water access).

For official figures include “scheduled tribe ST” along with a union state or region: e.g. “Chhattisgarh ST community”, “Scheduled tribe Tamil Nadu census”, “ST Kerala census”, “Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group Jharkhand”, “PVTG Rajasthan”, “Adivasi ST Kerala”, “Adibasi ST West Bengal” etc.

In case the Google Custom Search window is not displayed here try the following: (1) toggle between “Reader” and regular viewing; (2) in your browser’s Security settings select “Enable JavaScript” | More tips >>

For additional learning resources visit the website of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), “a public interest research and advocacy organisation based in New Delhi”:

Communication for Awareness
CSE’s publications and informational products have been its strength and they have always combined research and readability to get the message across.

CSE’s tools for awareness raising are periodicals, publications, films/short spots, briefing papers, exhibitions, posters and other products. CSE’s informational products reach people in more diverse ways such as features service, website and e-news bulletins. […]

Source: About CSE
URL: https://www.cseindia.org
Date Visited: 10 July 2022