Protect these groves, the gardens of the gods
ROHINI RAMAKRISHNAN
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Sacred groves were an age-old way of ensuring that the environment is well looked after.
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SEE AND LEARN: An exhibition that explains the need to protect nature.
Kovil kaadu in Tamil, literally meaning the "Garden of Gods" refers to the sacred groves. And there are 50,000 of them spread across the length and breadth of India. A sacred grove was an age-old way of preserving the environment in the only way our ancestors knew how. They worshipped it.
Recently the "Travelling Exhibition on Sacred Groves" was held at the Children's Garden School, Mylapore. This was organised by the Indira Gandhi Rastriya Manave Sangrahalya, Bhopal, in association with the Children's Garden School Society and the Sharma Centre for Heritage Education.
Herbs that cure
Pictures of sacred groves in different parts of the country and medicinal herbs in pots greeted one. There were pots of Garudan Kizhangu, used for curing insect bites, and Aadathoda, to ease asthma. There was Navakonji, an antidote for snakebites, and many more. A sacred grove can be a clump of trees or a large area of forest, but they were identified as sacred and preserved by the local community, the temple, a family or by the Forest Department.
Saraswathi Raghunathan, Principal of the school, said that the children saw that the customs practised were not mere superstitions but there was scientific truth in many of these customs. Anagha, Std. V of Arsha Vidya Mandir, and Sainath of the same class, that they had learnt many a new thing.
When once a place is declared sacred, people begin to venerate it and veneration goes hand in hand with cleanliness and preservation. They are invaluable to the sustenance of the environment as they enhance the soil negation, and reduce landslides. It's incredible that a sacred grove has also been found in the Thar Desert.
An art competition was on at the exhibition venue and the topics were "Various species of trees known to you" for under 12 and "Special Garden (Nandavanam) maintained in big temples" or "Sacred species of trees or tree attributed to the deity of a temple" for seniors. There was also essay and poetry competition.
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