Mata Karni Devi Temple near Bikaner is famous for thousands of rats that scurry around, milling with devotees. Several hours of television programming have been dedicated to the rodents, regarded as reincarnations of the goddess’s devote
Mata Karni Devi Temple near Bikaner is famous for thousands of rats that scurry around, milling with devotees. Several hours of television programming have been dedicated to the rodents, regarded as reincarnations of the goddess’s devotees. What has not gained much attention, however, is the 2,100 hectare scrub land near the temple. Called Oran or Devbani in local parlance, it is one of the several sacred groves spread over one lakh hectare of Rajasthan, which are protected by the people.
Orans are dedicated to one or more local deities and this ancient tradition of incorporating sacred with economic and ecological benefits played a vital role in sustaining the pastoral culture of the state.
Similar examples are spread throughout India with estimates suggesting up to 1.5 lakh sacred groves. These groves can either be around a temple like that near Bikaner or the forest where the village deity resides. For instance, Dongria Kondh tribe of Niyamgiri hills in Odisha, famous for resisting the bauxite mining project of Vedanta Resources in 2013, consider the hills the kingdom of their deity Niyam Raja. Though villagers depend on the natural resources including trees, grasses and water streams, it is need based. Smaller sacred groves can also be found around burial or cremation grounds.
The CPR Environmental Education Centre (CPREEC), a centre of excellence of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), has recorded thousands of sacred groves across the country. Himachal Pradesh tops the list with 5,000 sacred groves, which should not be a surprise as the region is known to have several deities. Kullu Valley alone has more than 500 deities, who converge along with their oracles at the week-long Kullu Dusshera celebrations and also ‘preside’ over important issues like the Himalayan Ski Village project that was rejected by them in the year 2006. Himachal is followed by Maharashtra (2,837), Kerala (2,000) and Karnataka (1,531) in number of sacred groves.
For many a green cause
With certain rules around extraction of resources, including ban on cutting of trees, these groves contribute significantly to wildlife protection, soil conservation, groundwater recharge, and as a good source of herbs, fruits and other economic resources to local people. No wonder, these forests qualify many parameters of conservation and sustainability and environmentalists promote this convergence of tradition with ecosystem as a counter to deforestation for develop