Protecting India's Sacred Forests

[Quintessence]

What do indigenous Indian religious communities and Christian communities have in common? Often, not much, but in Meghalaya, India, these two groups are working together to protect one of India's old growth sacred forests.

B.K. Tiwari, a retired professor of environmental science from North Eastern Hill University in Shillong, is heartened to see that conversion to Christianity has not disconnected the people entirely from the land.​

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“In the Indigenous religion everything is sacred — animals, plants, trees, rivers,” said Tiwari, who has studied the biological and cultural diversity of Meghalaya’s sacred forests. “Now, they may not feel any connection with the divine or spiritual, but as a culture, they understand their roles as the custodians.”​

Read the full article here:

Indigenous faithful and Christians work with environmentalists to conserve India's sacred forests

The northeast Indian state of Meghalaya is home to more than 125 sacred forests. These are tracts of virgin woodlands, which the Indigenous people believe are the abodes of their gods.

apnews.com

 

[Bear Wild]

What do indigenous Indian religious communities and Christian communities have in common? Often, not much, but in Meghalaya, India, these two groups are working together to protect one of India's old growth sacred forests.

B.K. Tiwari, a retired professor of environmental science from North Eastern Hill University in Shillong, is heartened to see that conversion to Christianity has not disconnected the people entirely from the land.​

​

“In the Indigenous religion everything is sacred — animals, plants, trees, rivers,” said Tiwari, who has studied the biological and cultural diversity of Meghalaya’s sacred forests. “Now, they may not feel any connection with the divine or spiritual, but as a culture, they understand their roles as the custodians.”​

Read the full article here:

Indigenous faithful and Christians work with environmentalists to conserve India's sacred forests

The northeast Indian state of Meghalaya is home to more than 125 sacred forests. These are tracts of virgin woodlands, which the Indigenous people believe are the abodes of their gods.

apnews.com

When people lose their connection with the sacred then they lose more than they will ever understand. The ancient forests carry so much wisdom that we have only began to scratch the surface of. It was not that long ago that we were unaware of the mycelial network that interconnects the life in a forest. It was the ancient forest that had a healthy fungal network that taught us the connectivity of life that we were ignorant of. There is the spiritual gift of these forests that cannot be comprehended without experiencing the wonder of the forest. It is both the wonders and the dangers of the forest that invites us into the great mysteries of our world.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Various communities in India had their own sacred trees. Neem (Margosa), Banyan and Peepal (both from Ficus), Khejri (Prosopis) in Rajasthan desert, Kaner (cascabela), Datura (Solanaceae), etc. and many more trees are considered sacred in India.

 

[rocala]

These forests and others like them, around the world, are truly marvelous places. They must be protected.