Sacred Groves: The Eternal Bond

“Mary all of 8 years, stood there with a deep sense of purpose. With her grandmother and the rest of the tribe in tow, she prayed sincerely for the prosperity and well being of the region. Soon, she took out the indigenous lemon sapling from her little bag and offered it at the ‘Sacred Grove’, hoping and believing that this unique fragrant plant flourishes throughout the region and grows here forever,” explained Mary’s mother.

Our rendezvous at the Nungsten teashop in a quaint district in Meghalaya had me utterly fascinated and enthralled. I was in awe of the beautiful relationship that the tribal communities had with the forest; they preserved the flora and fauna in the forest as a sacred treasure and designed their lives and future around it. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to see or experience much of it during that visit to Meghalaya a decade ago.

Over the next few years, stories like this one were the primary source of our inspiration as we undertook organic farming in the region. But it was only in March this year that I actually visited and felt the raw power of a Sacred Grove.

The Sacred Grove at Mawphlnag (approximately 10 sq kms, in area) near Shillong is one of the many large forest repositories in Meghalaya. A visit to a Sacred Grove is meaningless if you don’t have a local guide to tell you stories of the centuries old species of trees and plants that you are seeing and explain their relevance and value for the human race.

Our guide told us that of the 270 odd Sacred Groves around the world, 215 are in Meghalaya alone. Centuries ago tribes around Meghalaya prayed to nature and its elements and believed that their unique flora & fauna was a sacred gift from the gods that needed to be preserved for their own future and prosperity. So they began preserving their forests as Sacred Groves – where they prayed, conducted religious rituals and even made sacrifices. It is said these forests not only protect people and tribes that worship them but are also custodians of rare and unique gene pools of plants, reptiles and animals and are now drawing migratory birds too.

The stretch of barren land and the monoliths (a large single upright block of stone, especially one shaped into or serving as a pillar or monument) at the entrance of a Sacred Grove is not a matter of coincidence.  “Centuries ago, monoliths at the entrance of Sacred Groves were put in prayer as a point beyond which the forest should not grow so that children could come out and play in the open area and communities could meet and enjoy,” explained our guide.  The size and shapes of the monoliths determine which clan is the caretaker of the Sacred Grove.

It’s astonishing that even today, Sacred Groves grow sideways and behind but never ahead of the monoliths. While the forest grows in this preset manner, many a time it happens to encompass farmlands too. When it does, farmers impacted by the expansion of the forest are more than happy to leave their tract of land voluntarily and move elsewhere. That’s because they consider themselves blessed and privileged as the forest in the Sacred Grove ‘is speaking to them and telling them what to do next’.

According to legend about 200 years ago, a bull to be sacrificed as part of the rituals at a Sacred Grove escaped just before slaughter. Those attending took this as a sign from the forest that it did not want any more sacrifices and so they stopped the ritual. Similarly they stopped refraining women from the forest during their mensuration cycles. The belief was that this was unfair to women and was against their practice of having a matriarchal society.

Over the years many rituals related to Sacred Groves have ceased to exist. But there is always place to pray, meditate and marvel at the immensely valuable natural beauty around. When one visits a Sacred Grove one can literally see, smell and feel the years that Meghalaya’s tribes have lovingly invested in being one with nature and preserving their flora and fauna as precious fine China.

As we come to the end of our trek, our guide politely reminds us, “you can’t take even a dead leaf out of the forest, as it will displease the deities. Everyone is encouraged to offer new seeds, plants and trees at a Sacred Grove, but only what is accepted by the forest will survive.”

My thoughts immediately rush back to little Mary and I say a silent prayer in hope that her sapling has now grown into a beautiful lemon tree that is spreading its wonderful fragrance in a Sacred Grove; pretty much like what she may be doing in her own life now.

(Inspired by the tribes in Meghalaya, we at IKAI Organic have begun preserving trees, flora and fauna in a small area on our farm dedicated for this purpose alone. We have welcomed villages and tribes in the region to come and join us so that the unique gene pool of the region lives forever.)