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Sacred Groves

Sacred Groves is a ten acre forest sanctuary located on Bainbridge Island, in

Washington state, home to a small intentional community living in harmony with
each other, nature and spirit. We welcome guests and clients to the land for
rituals, healing work, music, learning, prayer and retreat time in the woods. It is a
place to deepen your relationship with Mother Earth and your personal
spirituality, a place for ceremony and a sense of connection. We offer season’s
change rituals, sweatlodges, grief-work, communication classes, a monthly drum
circle and Women’s Moon Ceremony and more. Women’s Mysteries School
events are geared especially towards women’s healing and empowerment.

Sacred Groves is not affiliated with any particular religion. The events here
include elements of ritual from earth-based spiritual traditions in North America,
Africa and pre-Christian Europe. They have also been inspired by mentors like
Sobonfu Some, Joanna Macy, Starhawk, and co-creative experiences in
drumming and ritual groups for the past couple of decades. We welcome people
from all races and cultures who share our beliefs that the earth is sacred and
that music, dance, prayer, ceremony, and time in the natural world are essential
for personal and community health.

Events at Sacred Groves are most often facilitated by owner-director Therese

Charvet whose spiritual practices and offerings have been shaped by 25 years of
Buddhist meditation practice, her deep connection to Mother Earth, and her love
of drum, dance and song. Some events (like the Grief Ritual and Wailing Lodge)
are co-facilitated with Kendra E. Thornbury of SpiritAlive who also occasionally
offers her own workshops at the Groves. Occasionally Therese invites other
teachers to the Groves to share their gifts with the land and the people who love
to come here.

Activities at Sacred Groves occur in the natural setting of 10 acres of Pacific

Northwest rainforest. It is a small wilderness park where you can feel the
sacredness of the earth. It’s a place to settle into the quiet, listen to the birds,
watch the trees sway in the wind, re-establish connection with God, Goddess,
Great Spirit, Great Mystery or whatever it is you call that ineffable power that
underlies all of life.
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Sacred Groves in India

Sacred groves in India refer to forest fragments of varying sizes, which are
communally protected, and which usually have a significant religious connotation
for the protecting community. Hunting and logging are usually strictly prohibited
within these patches. [1] Other forms of forest usage like honey collection and
deadwood collection are sometimes allowed on a sustainable basis. Sacred
groves did not enjoy protection via federal legislation in India. Some NGOs work
with local villagers to protect such groves. Traditionally, and in some cases even
today, members of the community take turns to protect the grove. [2] However,
the introduction of the protected area category community reserves under the
Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Act of 2002 has introduced legislation for
providing government protection to community held lands, which could include
sacred groves.

Indian sacred groves are sometimes associated with temples / monasteries /

shrines or with burial grounds (which is the case in Shinto and Ryukyuan religion-
based sacred groves respectively in Japan). Sacred groves may be loosely used
to refer to other natural habitat protected on religious grounds, such as Alpine
Meadows.

Historical references to sacred groves can be obtained from ancient classics as

far back as Kalidasa's Vikramuurvashiiya.

Beliefs
Typically, such groves are associated with the concept of a "presiding deity". While most of
these sacred deities are associated with local Hindu gods, sacred groves of Islamic and
Buddhist origins, and some based on smaller local religions and folk religions (like the folk
deities ayyanar and amman ) are also known of. There are over 1000 deities associated with
sacred groves in the states of Kerala and Karnataka alone.
[edit] Locations
Sacred groves are scattered all over the country, and are referred to by different names in
different parts of India. Sacred groves occur in a variety of places - from scrub forests in the
Thar Desert of Rajasthan maintained by the Bishnois, to rain forests in the Kerala Western
Ghats. Himachal Pradesh in the North and Kerala in the South are specifically known for
their large numbers of sacred groves. [3]
Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs
of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings. Experts believe
that the total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000. [4] [5]
It is estimated that around 1000 km² of unexploited land is inside sacred groves. Some of the
more famous groves are the kavus of Kerala, which are located in the Western Ghats and have
enormous biodiversity; and the law kyntangs of Meghalaya - sacred groves associated with
every village (two large groves being in Mawphlang and Mausmai) to appease the forest
spirit.
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Among the largest sacred groves of India are the ones in Hariyali, near Ganchar in Chamoli
District of Uttarakhand, and the Deodar grove in Shipin near Simla in Himachal Pradesh.

State No of groves Local name References

Andhra Pradesh 750 B. R. P. Rao [6]

Gumpa forests
Arunachal Pradesh 65 (since attached Dudley et al [7]
to monasteries)

Assam 40 Than, Madaico

Sarna, Devlas,
Chhattisgarh 600*
Mandar, Budhadev

Goa NA* SERBC document [8]

Gujarat 29*

Haryana 248

Himachal Pradesh 5000 Deo bhumi

Jharkhand 21* Sarna Marine Carrin [9]

Devarakadu,
Karnataka 1424 Gadgil et al [10]
Devarkan

Kerala 2000 Kavu M. Jayarajan [11]

Devkot, Matikot,
Madhya Pradesh 21*
Devsthali, Budhadev

Deorai/Devrai

(Pune, Ratnagiri, Waghchaure et al [12]

Maharashtra 1600
Raigarh, Kolhapur
districts)
Gamkhap, Mauhak
Manipur 365 (sacred bamboo Khumbongyam et al [13]
reserves)
Law kyntang,
Meghalaya 79 Upadhyay et al [14]
Law lyngdhoh
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Orissa 322* Jahera, Thakuramma

Pondicherry 108 Kovil Kadu Ramanujam et al [15]
Oran (Jaiselmer,
Jodhpur, Bikaner),
Kenkri (Ajmer),
Rajasthan 9*
Vani (Mewar),
Shamlat deh, Devbani
(Alwar), Jogmaya
Gumpa forests S. S. Dash [16]
Sikkim 56 (since attached
to monasteries) Dudley et al [7]
Tamil Nadu 503 Kovil Kadu M. Amrithalingam [17]
Deobhumi, Bugyal
Uttarakhand 18* (sacred alpine Anthwal et al [18]
meadows)
Garamthan,
Harithan,
West Bengal 670* R. K. Bhakat [19]
Jahera, Sabitrithan,
Santalburithan
All numbers are quoted from the records of the C.P.R. Environmental Education Centre of the
Government of India. Starred numbers are likely to increase. The centre also maintains a
complete list of identified sacred groves in India, most of which is online. [20]
[edit] Uses
Traditional uses: One of the most important traditional uses of sacred groves was that it
acted as a repository for various Ayurvedic medicines. Other uses involved a source of
replenishable resources like fruits and honey. However, in most sacred groves it was taboo to
hunt or chop wood. The vegetation cover helps reduce soil erosion and prevents
desertification, as in Rajasthan. The groves are often associated with ponds and streams, and
meet water requirements of local communities. They sometimes help in recharging aquifers
as well.
Modern uses: In modern times, sacred groves have become biodiversity hotspots, as various
species seek refuge in the areas due to progressive habitat destruction, and hunting. Sacred
groves often contain plant and animal species that have become extinct in neighboring areas.
They therefore harbor great genetic diversity. Besides this, sacred groves in urban landscapes
act as "lungs" to the city as well, providing much needed vegetation cover.
[edit] Threats
Threats to the grove include urbanization, over-exploitation of resources (like overgrazing
and excessive fuelwood collection), and environmental destruction due to religious practices.
While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu gods, in the recent past a
number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples. [4] Other
threats to the sacred groves include invasion by invasive species, like the invasive weeds
Chromolaena odorata, Lantana camara and Prosopis juliflora.
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[edit] Traditions
A large number of distinct local art forms and folk traditions are associated with the deities of
sacred groves, and are an important cultural aspect closely associated with sacred traditions.
Ritualistic dances and dramatizations based on the local deities that protect the groves are
called Theyyam in Kerala and Nagmandalam, among other names, in Karnataka. Often,
elaborate rituals and traditions are associated with sacred groves [21], as are associated folk
tales and folk mythology.