A sacred grove i rural kerala with an idol of the snake god (nagraj)
In Kerala it was the common practice among Hindus to assign a part of their land near the Tharavadu or house as the abode of goddess Durga or Serpent God Naga or Shasta and the place is called Kavu or Sarpakavu. Sacred Grove represent the major effort to recognize and conserve biodiversity (ethnic diversity) traditionally. The age old system of every village having a temple, a tank and associated sacred grove explains the ancient method of water harvesting and sharing and may be considered as the backbone of village economy. People were prohibited from felling trees and even removing a twig was considered as taboo. Some of the trees such as Borassus, Alstonia scholaris, Antiaris toxicaria, Hopea parviflora, Strychnos nux-vomica, Ficus religiosa etc are being worshipped in many sacred groves. On a rough estimate Kerala has about 1500 sacred groves which are distinct and unique in biological diversity. Most of the sacred groves represent the relics of once gregarious and abundant low lying evergreen forests of the WG. Only very few are reported from the foothills and the high ranges. The size of the sacred grove in Kerala varies as small as one cent to 20 or more hectares. The available inventory on sacred grove indicates that maximum number of such areas is distributed in the northern districts of the state henceforth called Malabar. The vegetation in the undisturbed groves is luxuriant and with multi layered trees mixed with shrubs, lianas and herbs. The ground is humus laden and abundant with fungus and ferns. The floristic composition is highly influenced by exposure to anthropogenic pressures, cattle grazing, edaphically and climatic variations.
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Keywords: devotion, god, groves, hindu, hinduism, idol, india, indian, kerala, life, natural, nature, pagan, religious, sacred, worship
