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Sci. and Cult. 84 (7–8) 263-267 (2018)

Conservation of Traditional NaturalBelief Systems in Chhattisgarh

Abstract : Sacred natural sites (often regarded as sacredgroves) are the confluence of nature and traditional beliefsystems of the local people. Chhattisgarh being a tribaldominated state comprises of many such sites with differentmyths, beliefs and taboos. This paper deals with four suchsacred sites and their associated traditional beliefs in threevillages around Korba town in Korba district of the state.Major outcome of the study is erosion of knowledge amongthe new generation affecting the species conservation at thesesites. However, with efforts from the communities and localauthorities, there's a hope that these sites can be rejuvenatedand their beliefs can be preserved and strengthened for theupcoming generations.

Key words: Sacred sites, Chhattisgarh state, Species conservation

The age-old relationship between religion and nature isevident from the various traditional beliefs associated

with natural ecosystems dating back to the pre-historictimes. The beliefs are assigned to different natural elementssuch as stone, rock, forest, river, etc. or to specific plant/animal species depending upon the local religion andculture. The resurgence of worldwide interest in natureworship has increased manifold nowadays mainly due tothe realization of importance of these community basedpractices in nature and natural resource conservation1. Oftenwe encounter numerous sacred natural sites especially inthe tropical forests of countries like India which arereminiscent of the age old cultural practices of the localpopulation, most of which are often the tribals living inconcordance with the natural habitats. Most of these sacrednatural sites are often referred as ‘sacred groves’ whichare regarded as one form of nature worship as per thedefinition provided by IUCN2. The local inhabitants of aparticular area usually dedicate these sacred sites to theirancestral deities or spirits. The perceptions attached withthis vary from place to place and hence, many differenttaboos are associated with such sites owing to the diversereligious and cultural practices.

Most of the sacred groves in India have pre-vedicorigin and are distinctively oriented from the mainstreamreligions. Such community based traditional belief systems,especially in form of sacred groves, have been recognizedas a role model for conservation of ecosystems and theirimportance has risen drastically in past couple of years,also owing to the declaration of Convention of BiologicalDiversity. Such sacred sites are distributed widely acrossthe length and breadth of India and are known to harbor arich repository of the local biodiversity of their region.These sacred sites have also been the focal point ofnumerous studies carried out across the country fromanthropological and biological conservation point ofview3-13. The main factors responsible for biologicalrichness of sacred groves include limited resourceutilization, lack of anthropogenic activities and suitableclimatic conditions and habitat. However, in some cases,owing to the uncontrolled and unplanned developmentalactivities and decline of interest in natural belief systemsamong the local population, the threat of degradation loomshigh on the sacred groves.

The focal sacred natural sites of this study are locatedin the state of Chhattisgarh, which is situated in centralIndia. This state was carved out the state of MadhyaPradesh on 1st November 2000 by including those 16southern districts where the Chhattisgarhi language speakingpopulation dominated. The recorded forest area ofChhattisgarh is 55,772 sq.km. which forms 44.21% of thetotal geographical area of the state14. Most of the forestsin the state are deciduous forests of the Eastern HighlandForests with major portions being in the hilly regions ofnorth and south. Among the local population of the state,tribal groups form a significant proportion and inhabit theforested areas in the state. Most of these tribes have sacredsites, which are dedicated to different Goddesses locallyknown as ‘Mata’ or ‘Gaondevi’. During our ongoingbiodiversity survey in Korba district of Chhattisgarh, weencountered upon couple of interesting sacred natural sitesassociated with lots of taboos/beliefs of local populationresiding there. This paper is prepared with a principal aim

Research Communication

The journal is in the UGC approved list on broad subjectcategory of Multidisciplinary, Science and Social Sciences.

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of highlighting the importance of these undiscovered sacrednatural sites, discussing their status and emphasize upontheir conservation.

Materials and Methods : The Korba district islocated in the northern part of Chhattisgarh state (Figure1) and is known as the power capital of Chhattisgarh. Thisdistrict comes under the Bilaspur division and is mostlyinhabited by the members of Pahari Korwa tribe which isone of the Scheduled Tribes of India. This district isdeclared as an Aadivasi (Tribal) district and most of itsoriginal inhabitants living in and around the forests havepreserved their ancient cultures and traditions. Of the totalarea of the district, about 2,83,497 hectares (almost 40%)covered by forests. The district is drained by Hasdeo riverwhich arises from Pathar in the Valley of Chhota Nagpur.During biodiversity survey in and around Korba town inthe district, we interacted with some of the members ofKorwa tribes and other local population in the nearbyvillages regarding their traditional beliefs and associatedknowledge about sacred groves. This interaction was carriedout from February – April 2015. Care was taken to interactwith representatives from different age groups as well asboth males and females. All the information was noteddown and photographic evidences of the sacred natural siteswere taken.

Fig. 1: Location map of sacred natural sites

Results and Discussion : The traditional natural beliefsystems of the people residing in three different villagesaround the Korba town are summarized below:

Dudhitangar Village: The main habitations of thisvillage are Pahadi Korba tribe located about 16kms away from the Korba town. Their main placeof worship was a sacred grove located inside theforest bordering group of houses. This grovecomprised of few stones, considered asrepresentatives of deities and placed on a slightlyraised platform amidst cluster of trees (Figure 2)and dedicated to Lord Shiva. The associated treeswith this grove are Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels,Mangifera indica L., Lagerstroemia microcarpaWight, Ficus religiosa L. and Ficus benghalensisL. Of these, the Ficus sps. is the sacred tree andworshipped by the tribals on various occasions.Their main festival is ‘Karma festival’ falling inMagh month.

Fig. 2: Sacred grove in the Dudhitangar Village

Bela Village: This village is situated about 8-10kms from the Korba town and is home Kanwar,Majhwar and Pando tribes and other migratorypeople settled here years ago. Upon interactionwith the Sarpanch (Village Head), details of twoimportant sacred sites in village that were theprinciple place of worship and belief system ofthe villagers were known. The first site (Figure 3)comprised of a stone established on a small raisedplatform dedicated to a local Goddess ‘DiharinDevi’. This is believed to have been establishedalmost 500 years ago, when the tribals settleddown in this area. Shorea robusta Gaertn. (locallyknown as Sarai tree) and Madhuca longifolia var.latifolia (Roxb.) A. Chev. (locally known as Mahua

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tree) is associated with this site and protectedowing to their belief. Main festival is Gauri Poojaheld post Diwali, wherein statues of Lord Shivaand Goddess Parvati are worshipped.

The second sacred site comprised of an old dried uplog piece of unknown tree species located amidst openforest (Figure 4). The forest was dominated with Madhucalongifolia var. latifolia (Roxb.) A. Chev. tree species alongwith Zizyphus sp. This site is dedicated to ‘Thakur Dev’,the Village God. The locals offer the first harvest of grainsin the basket as a mark of gratitude for good harvestthroughout the year.

Fig. 3: Diharindevi Sacred site in Bela village

Fig. 4: Thakur Dev sacred site in Bela Village

Rizdi Village –Rajga Marg: Another veryinteresting sacred site was on the Rajga Marg roadtowards Rizdi village around 10-12 kms away fromthe Korba town. This small temple locatedalongside a teak mixed forest is known as SerpinDevi temple (Snake Goddess). There is a smallstory attached with this temple. It was believed

thatthe forest was haunted by some kind of spiritsand used to trouble the by-passers especially duringthe night time. Hence, to ward off this evil, thelocals decided to establish this particular temple(Figure 5) about 50-60 years ago. Since then, it issaid that the spirits no longer trouble the passerbyduring anytime of the day.

Fig. 5: Serpin Devi sacred site on Rajga Marg towards Rizdi Village

Chhattisgarh being a tribal dominated state has itsdeep roots in traditional belief systems which have been apart of the people’s lives since time immemorial. However,studies have picked up on documenting the sacred grovesand other traditional practices of the tribal groups of thestate in the last couple of years. Among the recentsignificant studies, the role of sacred groves was discussedas an important tool in conservation of biodiversityespecially with respect to Rare, Endangered and Threatened(RET) species by conducting a survey in selected villagesof Chhattisgarh15. Another study16 highlighted the varioussocio-cultural rituals and traditions associated with someselected sacred groves of Chhattisgarh state. Such studiesonly provide a brief insight into few sacred groves andtheir related beliefs and there’s still a huge lacunae to befilled as it is believed that the state is home to more than1000 such small and big sacred natural sites.

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In spite of the strong beliefs the state of these sacredsites remains in pitiable condition mainly due to variousfactors that have led to the dwindling of these sites. Thelarge scale conversion of forest lands into agricultural andcommercial forestry lands in the region, immigration ofpeople from these villages to the nearby towns/cities forbetter livelihood, encroachments, human-animal conflicts,etc. are some of the reasons for the wane state of thesesacred groves. But the myths and beliefs followed by thelocal population strictly in earlier times, have erodedsignificantly in the last few decades and the sacred grovesno longer enjoy the same status and privilege as they usedto in the past17. However, inspite of these challenges, themere presence of these sites provided some insight intothe traditional belief systems of the local population in theregion. Such sacred groves should be protected andpreserved mainly due to their value as historical evidencesfor the relationship of human beings to the naturalecosystems18. Besides the sacred groves provide a numberof ecosystem services such as reducing the erosional effects,conservation of soil, maintenance of the hydrological cycle,natural dispersion of seeds, sheltering considerablepopulation of pollinators and predators, conservation ofindigenous flora and fauna, etc.19

The present paper highlights the potential need forrestoration of the degraded sacred groves. There is needto include the scared grove conservation within the domainof forest conservation in relation to the ecological roleplayed by them. To generate funds for protection andconservation nature based tourism could be promoted andthe funds diverted towards conservation. Such initiativeshave been started at Hawaii Islands, where the localsmanage the eco-tours with restricted entry.

Another important step is to classify the sacred grovesinto different categories based on various factors such asage, size, vegetation, etc. and assign conservation valuesto them as well as rope them in the ‘Protected Area’network as deemed fit. The ecological goods and servicesas provided by the sacred groves need to be highlightedfor aiding the policy makers in formulating conservationstrategies.

Conclusion : The practice of safeguardingenvironment by associating the traditional beliefs with localsacred natural sites is a practice hitherto prevalent in manyparts of the world especially, the tropics. Chhattisgarh’srichness in sacred groves provides ample evidences ofclose-knit harmony between the tribal groups and thenature. However, with the rapidly changing phase of theworld, these traditional knowledge and belief systems have

taken a set-back, thereby alarming a dire need for theirresurgence. This would only be possible with the jointefforts of the communities and the authorities of the regionconcerned which will ensure continuous survival of thesebeliefs for the upcoming generations.

Acknowledgement : We thank the local tribalpopulation of the three villages for their valuable inputsand insights into their traditional belief systems. We wouldalso extend our sincerest thanks to Mr. Verma, the localdriver, who guided us in and around the region and helpedus in the interactions.

SUMESH N. DUDANI*,TEJAS PATEL, JAGRUTI RATHOD,

JAYENDRA LAKHMAPURKARAND DEEPA GAVALI

Gujarat Ecology Society, 3rd Floor,Synergy House, Subhanpura,Vadodara – 390023,Gujarat State, India.Email addresses: sumeshdudani@gmail.com*,tejas20p@gmail.com, rathod21@gmail.com,jjlakh@gmail.com, deepa.gavali@gmail.com

Received : 18 October, 2016

Revised : 15 May, 2018

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