Sacred Groves

Subject – Environment

Context – Punjab’s sacred groves, hosting native flora and fauna, and associated with people’s beliefs and traditions, need urgent attention.

Concept –

Sacred groves are communally protected forests which usually have a significant religious connotation for the protecting community.
The Sacred Groves comprises of patches of forest or natural vegetation that are usually dedicated to local folk deities.
Indian sacred groves are often associated with temples, monasteries, shrines or with burial grounds.
Hunting and logging are usually strictly prohibited within these patches.
Other forms of forest usage like honey collection and deadwood collection are sometimes allowed on a sustainable basis.
The introduction of the protected area category community reserves under the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002 has introduced legislation for providing government protection to community held lands, which include sacred groves.
Among the largest sacred groves of India are the ones in Hariyali, near Gauchar in Chamoli District of Uttarakhand, and the Deodar grove in Shipin near Shimla in Himachal Pradesh.
In India, there are over a lakh sacred groves across different states called by different names like Kaavu in Malayalam, Koyil kaadu in Tamil, Orans in Rajasthan, Devara kaadu in Karnataka, and Sernas in Madhya Pradesh.