What are Sacred Groves? Guide to Adivasi Sacred Forests
Sacred groves are patches of forest protected by Adivasi (indigenous) communities across India for generations - sometimes for centuries - as the specific dwellings of gods, spirits, and ancestors. They are one of the most distinctive features of Adivasi religious tradition. Found across most Adivasi communities in India, they go by different names in different regional traditions: sarna among the Santhal and many central Indian groups, devrai or devarakadu in Karnataka and Maharashtra, kavus in Kerala, law kyntang in Meghalaya, and dozens of other regional terms. Their protection is a matter of active religious practice today. Where surrounding forest has been extensively cleared for agriculture and development, sacred groves often remain as significant patches of native vegetation - preserving biodiversity as well as religious meaning.
Key Takeaways
- Sacred groves are patches of forest protected by Adivasi (indigenous) communities across India as the specific dwellings of gods, spirits, and ancestors.
- They go by different names in different regional traditions: sarna (Santhal and central Indian communities), devrai or devarakadu (Karnataka and Maharashtra), kavus (Kerala), law kyntang (Meghalaya), and many others.
- Their protection is a matter of active religious practice - trees are not cut, hunting is forbidden within them, and access is often limited to specific ritual times.
- Sacred groves are found across many Adivasi traditions. Their specific significance varies by community, but the pattern of forest-as-sacred-site is widespread.
- Groves are typically dedicated to specific deities, ancestor spirits, or classes of bongas (in Santhal and related traditions). The deities are understood to reside in the grove itself.
- Sacred groves have ecological significance beyond their religious role. Where surrounding forest has been extensively cleared, groves often remain as significant patches of native vegetation, preserving biodiversity.
- The tradition has faced pressure from land conversion, development, and shifting religious practice, but many groves remain actively maintained.
- Sacred groves are a matter of active study in ecology, environmental science, and religious studies as examples of long-continued religious-ecological practice.
What are sacred groves?
A sacred grove is a patch of forest or wooded land treated by a specific community as sacred and protected from ordinary human use. In the Indian tribal (Adivasi) context, sacred groves are one of the central features of traditional religious practice.
Definition - sacred groves
Patches of forest protected by Adivasi (indigenous) communities across India as the specific dwellings of gods, spirits, and ancestors. Sacred groves are protected from cutting, hunting, and ordinary use, and are the sites of specific religious observances. They are known by many different regional names: sarna, devrai, devarakadu, kavus, law kyntang, and dozens of others.
The specific concept and practice varies enormously by region and community. But the underlying pattern is remarkably consistent across many Adivasi traditions: a specific patch of forest is set aside as sacred, protected from ordinary use, understood as the dwelling of specific deities or spirits, and maintained as such across generations. Read the sacred grove and the sacred grove spirits.
Sacred groves across India
Sacred groves exist in most Indian states, though their names, sizes, and specific characteristics vary by regional tradition.
Sarna is the term used by the Santhal, Munda, Ho, and other Austroasiatic-language Adivasi communities of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, and Bihar. Sarna groves are often dedicated to specific bongas (spirits) and to the supreme deities of these traditions (Thakur Jiu for the Santhal, Sing Bonga for the Ho).
Devrai or devarakadu is used in the Konkani-speaking regions of Karnataka, Goa, and Maharashtra. These groves are often smaller than the central Indian sarnas but are equally protected. Many devrai are dedicated to specific village deities.
Kavus is the Malayalam term for sacred groves in Kerala. Kerala’s kavus are among the most extensively documented sacred groves in India, and range from small clan-specific groves to larger community groves associated with major village deities.
Law kyntang is the Khasi term for sacred groves in Meghalaya. Some Meghalaya sacred groves are among the largest in India - the Mawphlang sacred grove near Shillong covers approximately 78 hectares and has been protected for centuries.
Similar traditions exist among many other Adivasi communities. Each community’s practice is specific to that community.
Ecological significance
Sacred groves have ecological significance beyond their religious role.
Where surrounding forest has been extensively cleared for agriculture, urbanisation, or industrial development - which has been the pattern across much of India over the past century - sacred groves often remain as significant patches of native vegetation. Some sacred groves preserve tree species and plant communities that have largely disappeared from the surrounding landscape. They serve as reservoirs of biodiversity, refuges for wildlife, and (in some cases) important watershed features.
This ecological role has been recognised by conservation biologists and environmental researchers over the past several decades. Studies of sacred groves in Kerala, Meghalaya, Maharashtra, and other regions have documented the significant biodiversity preserved by these religious protection practices. Some sacred groves contain species not found in nearby areas because the surrounding habitat has been altered.
The ecological role should not be over-emphasised at the expense of the religious. Communities maintain sacred groves because they are sacred, not because they are biodiverse. But the alignment between religious protection and ecological outcome has become one of the most-studied examples of what conservation biologists sometimes call “biocultural conservation.”
Threats to sacred groves
Sacred groves face pressure from several directions in contemporary India.
Land conversion for agriculture, mining, industrial development, and urbanisation has reduced or eliminated many sacred groves. In some regions, groves that existed for centuries have been lost within a generation as economic pressure on Adivasi communities has changed traditional land use.
Religious change has also affected sacred grove maintenance. As some Adivasi communities have moved toward closer identification with Hinduism or have converted to Christianity or Islam, traditional grove-worship practices have sometimes declined. In some cases, groves that were traditionally protected have been cleared or developed. In others, changed religious understanding has preserved the physical grove but altered its meaning.
Government policies have been mixed. Some states have officially recognised sacred groves and provided legal protection; others have not. Indian environmental law provides some general protection but does not consistently address the specifically religious character of sacred groves.
Contemporary Adivasi movements have often included sacred grove protection as part of a broader assertion of indigenous land rights and religious tradition. The recognition of Adivasi religious practice as constitutionally protected is a matter of ongoing legal and political discussion.
Sacred groves in practice
Traditional maintenance of a sacred grove involves specific practices:
- Protection from cutting. Trees within the grove are not felled. Fallen wood is often left in place rather than removed. Even dead trees are generally not cleared.
- Protection from hunting. Wildlife within the grove is treated as under the deity’s protection. Hunting is forbidden.
- Ritual access. Access to the grove is often limited to specific ritual times and specific ritual specialists. Ordinary community members may enter only under specific circumstances.
- Offerings. Specific offerings are made at designated points within the grove - often at particular trees, stones, or clearings identified as the sites where the deity or spirits are especially present.
- Festival practice. Major community festivals are held at or near the sacred grove, often involving processions, animal sacrifice (in traditions that maintain this), and community-wide participation.
Sacred groves compared to other protected sacred sites
The concept of a protected sacred site is widespread across religious traditions. Sacred groves have parallels and distinctive features.
| Tradition | Sacred site type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Adivasi India | Sacred groves | Living tradition; ecological co-benefit |
| Ancient Greek | Sacred groves (alsos) | Around temples; largely disappeared |
| Ancient Celtic | Sacred groves (nemetons) | Documented by Romans; largely disappeared |
| Shinto (Japan) | Shrine forests (chinju no mori) | Continuously maintained |
| Hindu (broader) | Temple lands | Often surround temple complexes |
| Indigenous American | Various sacred sites | Living traditions; often contested |
The Adivasi sacred grove tradition is unusual for its continuity - most Adivasi groves have been maintained across many centuries by the same communities, with the same religious meaning, without significant interruption. Comparable European sacred grove traditions largely disappeared with the Christianisation of Europe. Japanese Shinto shrine forests continue and are perhaps the closest parallel.
Read the stories
Sacred groves appear across many Adivasi stories on the site:
- The Sacred Grove
- The Sacred Grove Spirits
- The Sacred Forest
- The Forbidden Forest
- The Spirit of the Forest
- The Serpent Grove
- The Iei Tree
Sacred groves are what Adivasi tradition kept as its most specific physical link between religious practice and the land itself. They are patches of forest that have been sacred for so long that the trees themselves have grown up under that protection. They preserve deities, spirits, ancestors, and (as an unintended but real consequence) biodiversity. Their maintenance is a matter of active religious practice today across most Adivasi communities. Whatever else changes in the Indian countryside, the groves continue - because the communities that tend them continue.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a sacred grove?
A sacred grove is a patch of forest protected by an Adivasi (indigenous) community as the specific dwelling of gods, spirits, and ancestors. Sacred groves are protected from cutting, hunting, and ordinary use, and are the sites of specific religious observances. They are known by many different regional names across India: sarna (Santhal and central India), devrai (Karnataka, Maharashtra), kavus (Kerala), law kyntang (Meghalaya), and dozens of others.
Where are sacred groves found?
Across most of India, in the traditions of most Adivasi communities. Sacred groves have been documented in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and many other states. Each region has its own tradition and its own name for the practice, but the underlying pattern of a protected sacred forest is widely shared.
What do sacred groves protect?
In their religious meaning, they protect the physical dwellings of gods, spirits, and ancestors. In their ecological effect, they often protect significant biodiversity - tree species, plant communities, and wildlife that have largely disappeared from surrounding landscapes altered by human use. The religious meaning is the reason communities maintain them; the ecological role is a real consequence that has been extensively documented in recent decades.
Are sacred groves under threat?
Many are. Land conversion for agriculture, mining, industrial development, and urbanisation has reduced or eliminated sacred groves across much of India. Religious change (movement toward Hinduism, conversion to other religions) has sometimes altered traditional maintenance. Government policies have been inconsistent. But many groves remain actively protected by the communities that have maintained them for generations.
Can non-Adivasi people visit sacred groves?
The answer varies by community and by grove. Some sacred groves are open to respectful visitors; others are restricted to specific ritual times or to community members only. Visitors should never enter a sacred grove without local guidance and permission. What is sacred to a community deserves respect from those who are not part of it - which includes asking before entering, following any specific rules the community observes, and understanding that not all sacred sites are meant to be accessible to outsiders.
Do sacred groves have legal protection?
Some. Various Indian states have laws providing some level of legal recognition and protection for sacred groves, but the situation varies. Indian environmental law provides some general protection, but not consistently addressing the specifically religious character of sacred groves. The recognition of Adivasi religious practice as constitutionally protected in relation to sacred sites is a matter of ongoing legal discussion in India.