Introduction
Sacred groves are “small forests or stands of trees whose produce is set aside for the exclusive use of a deity” which has conservational and religious values attached to such “pockets of abundant and diverse flora and fauna” [4]. Dietrich Brandis, the first General Inspector of Forest in India, identified the religious conservation of kaavu and termed it sacred grove [1]. Sacred groves have been studied from various perspectives – ethnographic, ecological, theological, sociological, and mythical.
The Ecology of Sacred Groves
Ecologists look at sacred groves as a rich conservatory of “rare and endemic species of plants” [3]. Approximately 13,720 sacred groves are identified in the 19 states of India with maximum number of them in Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and Tamil Nadu [3]. Sacred groves have withstood the massive deforestation initiated by the British administration in India. But due to various reasons such as population growth, deforestation,...
References
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Jain P (2011) Dharma and ecology of Hindu communities: sustenance and sustainability. Routledge, London/New York
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Murugan K, Ramachandran VS, Swarupanandan K, Remesh M (2008) Socio-cultural perspectives to the sacred groves and serpentine worship in Palakkad district, Kerala. Indian J Tradit Knowl 7(3):455
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Alex, R.K. (2018). Kaavu in Kerala (Sacred Groves in Kerala). In: Jain, P., Sherma, R., Khanna, M. (eds) Hinduism and Tribal Religions. Encyclopedia of Indian Religions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1036-5_834-1
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