Paper short abstract:

Serpent Groves are found in the west coast of South India. As religious refugia they play an important role in the conservation of indigenous flora and fauna, but today are under threat due to erosion of traditional beliefs, fragmentation of agrarian families, modernization and utilitarian ideology.

Paper long abstract:

Serpent Groves (Naga Banas) are traditional sacred groves in the west coast region of South India. These are religious refugia, the sites of the manifestation of early nature worship, which played important role in the conservation of indigenous flora and fauna and biodiversity elements. Such traditional groves were rich habitats of endemic species, including medicinal plants. The plant diversity had groups like herbs, climbers, plants and trees. 'Gnetum' is one such endemic climber which had multiple uses. Depending on the space, such serpent groves were the habitats of a number of species of local fauna as well.

At present, serpent groves are under threat for various reasons like rejuvenation-Sanskritisation, erosion of traditional beliefs, fragmentation of agrarian families, modernization and utilitarian ideology. The trees, shrubs and climbers of the traditional serpent groves are cut, and modernized cement structures are erected, thus resulting in decadence of biodiversity of nature.

This paper concentrates on three serpent groves in Meenja Village, situated in the Western Ghats of India, which is one of the hot spots of biodiversity of the world. Meenja is located at a distance of 5 kms to the east of the Arabian sea and about 35 kms south of the city of Mangalore. These serpent groves are studied here and an open solution is suggested from the point of view of conservation of endemic species in the revival of 'serpent groves' combining the traditional belief system of nature worship with flora and fauna at the center.

Paper short abstract:

This contribution is about sacred groves or devraï in Maharashtra, the conception of divine presence characterized by this notion and the importance of such a place in the locality, its landscape and pantheon.

Paper long abstract:

The relation between human and natural world often comes to considering the relation with surnatural entities. If mountains, caves, forests etc., are a separate, wild, forbidden world, contrary to the social and ritual space and activities, it's for their association with powers that man must deal with.

In this sense, this contribution is about sacred groves in Maharashtra. Called devraï or devarahati, respectively meaning god's grove or god's residence, they are thus inhabited by or belonging to a deity. How, then, to characterize the relations between the sacred grove, its deity and the society ? Does it mark out a particular place or landscape? In which sense does it constitute god's territory?

Unlike devasthan emphasizing a mystical abode for the devotee's salvation, devrai rather seems to be an outside place in the locality marked by taboos regarding access of women and to natural resources.

The classical opposition between the village and the forest doesn't account for the diversity of space and landscapes, i.e. the village, the soil, forests, rivers, ponds, caves etc. associated with supernatural entities, benevolent or dangerous. Thus, how to characterize devraï? Does it rather induce a continuity or even a hybridity of village and forest ?

Taboos don't imply avoidance but strictly codified relations. Any initiative regarding the sacred grove must be previously validated by the deity itself through divination. Thus, this seems to establish god's authority over its territory and opens on a negotiation for groves' appropriation in the context of forest policy or/and environmentalism.

Paper short abstract:

Sacred groves in Konkan region of Maharashtra state reflects the local, religious cultural tradition of biodiversity conservation by providing protection to forest patches dedicated to deities or ancestral spirits.

Paper long abstract:

Sacred groves have existed in India from time immemorial as patches of densely wooded areas, venerated on religious grounds. They represent the ancient Indian culture of in situ conservation of genetic diversity. About 13,720 sacred groves have been reported from India. Ratnagiri district is one of the four districts falls within the Konkan region of Maharashtra state. Out of the 2837 sacred groves documented for Maharashtra state, Ratnagiri district has about 834 sacred groves, occupying an area of 1204.45 ha. These groves were protected by local communities as tradition of nature worship dedicated to deities or ancestral spirits. Locally they are known as 'Deorai', 'Devrai', 'Rai', 'Rahati', 'Devrahati' and 'Gothan'. They are acting as sanctuaries for ayurvedic, tribal and folk medicines and protect freshwater sources and have great value for conservation ecology. As a part of research work commenced in 2005, ethnobotanical survey and inventory of floristic diversity of this area has been completed. Out of 834 sacred groves, 755 have been visited for documentation. The deities of each sacred grove of which majority are mother goddesses, festivals and rituals have been documented. Development projects like mining, dams and road construction are the major reasons responsible for deterioration of these gardens of gods and their valuable natural bioresources. Many groves are suffering what is called 'Sanskritization', the transformation of primitive nature worship into formal Hindu practice. The paper will highlight the role of regional culture of Konkan area in conserving these natural Islands of biodiversity in past, present and future.

Paper short abstract:

We will report on our study of four places of pilgrimage in the Western Ghats that also attract trekkers and other tourists. The places’ attraction depends upon, yet also threatens, their forest and wilderness environment. We will outline the varying views of locals, visitors, officials, and NGOs.

Paper long abstract:

We will present a preliminary report on our ongoing study of four places of pilgrimage in the Sahyadri mountains (Western Ghats) that also attract trekkers and other, less energetic tourists. Tryambakeshvar, Bhimashankar, and Mahabaleshvar are sites of Śiva temples (of India-wide significance as Jyotirlingas in the first two cases, and of more local significance in the case of Mahabaleshvar) and the origin points of major rivers (the Godavari, Bhima, and Krishna, respectively). Kalsubai, our fourth study site, is the highest peak in the Sahyadris, with the temple of a local goddess atop it. Whereas in the case of Mahabaleshwar, tourism predominates, Tryambakeshvar is the most important of the places on the Sanskritic religious map of all of India. In all cases, we are interested in understanding the ways in which the attraction of the places for tourists and pilgrims depends upon, and at the same time threatens, the forest and wilderness environment of the places. We are also learning about the measures that various official and non-official organizations are taking to control, preserve, and "improve" the places. These organizations include government bodies on the local (Grampanchayat, Nagar Palika), regional (Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation), and national (Forest Department) levels; the respective Temple Trusts; the associations of different types of priests (Brahmans, Guravs, Kolis) at the places; hotel owners' associations; taxi drivers' unions; and environmentalist NGOs organized either locally or by outsiders.

Paper short abstract:

The paper explores perceptions of and interrelations between landscapes, the divine and individuals of the worldly sphere. My focus is set on vernacular narratives of the divine’s mythology and individual experiences of dedicated devotees in the context of a regional living tradition in South India.

Paper long abstract:

On top of a hill near Saundatti, Karnataka, South India, we find a landscape of temples, shrines and wells, which tells the mythologies of Reṇukā-Ellamma, a princess who became a deity. Today she protects villages against hazards from areas beyond the boundaries of settlements. But being from the outside herself she is ambivalent and can turn against her own people: she afflicts individuals by taking control of their bodies and playing a dangerous and painful game with them. Sometimes she even transforms a man's gender into female. Then only their initiation into Reṇukā-Ellamma's service and becoming a jōgamma or jōgappa pacifies the goddess. In this paper I analyze Reṇukā-Ellamma's vernacular mythologies together with life stories of her devotees, which I collected during ethnographic fieldwork. To explore interrelations between unsettled area, aspects of Reṇukā-Ellamma's character and her dedicated devotees, I trace motives of the wild and aspects of moving through spaces. This reveals mutuality, but also ambivalence and hierarchy in these relationships. Wilderness, threatening from the outside and being one aspect of Reṇukā-Ellamma's character, can be tamed or even reversed to become empowering and deifying. By crossing geographical borders, blurring social boundaries and abandoning family ties, jōgammas and jōgappas impersonate the divine and at the same time represent and perform wilderness, however in a ritualized and regulated form.

Paper short abstract:

This paper focuses on the relationship between the vana, “wild space” or forest, and the kṣetra, well-settled, cultivated space, in the Kannaḍa oral epic Male Mādēśvara. I will show that Sontheimer's concept can serve as a useful mode of interpretation of the epic's different layers of meaning.

Paper long abstract:

Inspired by Sontheimer's essay "The Vana and the Kṣetra: The Tribal Background of Some Famous Cults" in which he explores the relationship between the vana and the kṣetra, I decided to apply his approach to the Male Mādēśvara epic. Sontheimer also emphasizes the great influence of the "Little Tradition" on the "Great Tradition": Very often, oral and local traditions found entrance into Sanskrit culture and were transformed according to Brahmanic world view. This seems to be the case with the Male Mādēśvara epic, too. I will therefore try to answer the following questions: Will it be useful to apply Sontheimer's approach to the Male Mādēśvara epic? What does the epic text tell us about the relationship between the vana and the kṣetra? Can we find traces of the kṣetra's influence on the cult and the epic tradition of Male Mādēśvara in the text? At the beginning, I will give a short introduction to the epic, its performance and socio-cultural context. I will also take a closer look at the main protagonist, the young Vīraśaiva saint Mādēśvara who struggles to establish his cult. However, the focus will be on the popular Saṃkamma episode: By analyzing selected text passages, I will show how the different characters of the two contradicting, and often conflicting, realms are reflected in the lives and marriage of the protagonists. In the end, I hope to establish that both realms have constantly remained in exchange with each other, and therefore both have been shaping today's oral epic tradition.

Paper short abstract:

The dynamics of the interaction between space, nature and human practice are crucial to define one’s identity. Using the example of an urban temple under a holy tree in India, I will study transformative discourses that produce and contest ideas about locality, nature and religious experience.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper, I propose to investigate the relationship of nature and sacred place-making with the example of a contemporary Hindu temple in India. The 'Śrī Gurudev Datta Mandir' was established in a public park in the residential area of urban Pune, Maharashtra in the mid-1970s. The temple was built in honor of a devotee's vision of Lord Dattātreya: according to the oral tradition, in the year 1968, the park's gardener found a pair of brass sandals (pādukās) under an Audumbar tree (ficus racemosa), while watering the park's garden. He identified these sandals as Datta's holy footwear. Since then, daily worship has taken place there and after just a few years a sizable temple-complex has been erected with the sanctum sanctorum around the tree, which nowadays has a large number of daily visitors.

The Audumbar tree is considered to be the 'dwelling place of Lord Dattātreya', and wherever such a tree is found the place is considered to be a potential sacred site. The dynamics of the interaction between space, nature/materiality and human practice are crucial to define one's identity. It is at places such as the 'Śrī Gurudev Datta Mandir' that one can study the multidimensional, transforming and transformative discourses that are being articulated and negotiated there, and which produce and contest ideas about locality, nature and religious experience.

Paper short abstract:

In this paper I will present historical and ethnographic material on the encounter of Hindus and Catholics in Goa and problematize the idea that syncretism can be accounted for in the contexts and paradigms of modernity.

Paper long abstract:

For the most part syncretism is treated as an achievement of modernity. Two typical modern 'mediating grounds' are commonly evoked to account for its operation: a secular domain that allows to describe syncretism as the politics of religious synthesis, and the idea of Religion as a human universal that sees syncretism as a form of religious pluralism.

In this presentation I will problematize the anchorage of syncretism in modern circumstance and thought and — using historical and ethnographic material from the encounter of Hindus and Catholics in Goa — will argue that it has both deeper roots and more complex rationales. Two lines of argument will become especially important to explain why both Hindus and Catholics in Goa occasionally ritually honor and in general trust the divine or saintly forces of the respective other religious tradition:

• the existential practical concerns for the contiguity and neighborhood, genealogy and family relations that constitute and reproduce the village community, and the concern for bodily health and protection;

• the practical enactment of the epistemic axiom that the divine and, by extension the Truth, manifests itself in tangible form and signification and, in particular, embodies the village itself.

In sum, I will argue that syncretism reveals and to some extent resists the ruptures that marked the transition from the premodern to the modern era; and its socially embedded and practically embodied rationales cannot be abstracted in the modern division of religion and the secular, nor ideas of religious pluralism or tolerance for that matter.

Paper short abstract:

The proposed paper deals with some ‘natural objects’ (earth mound, stones, river) in the ritual landscape of Joria Praja villages in South Odisha. The paper show that the concerned objects act as spatial metaphors for the social world, as well as for some human experiences.

Paper long abstract:

The proposed paper deals with some 'natural objects' composing the ritual landscape of a Joria Praja village in South Odisha. The Joria Praja people are a social group classified as Scheduled Tribe according to the Indian administration, speaking the local dialect of Oriya (Desia).

Far to be evidences of a worship of 'Nature' in its various manifestations (« stock and stones » according to the old formula), or only of a fertility cult, the paper intends to show that the concerned objects (a small earth mound, rows of standing stones, the local river and a local hillock) act mostly as spatial metaphors for the social world, as well as for some human experiences.

At the collective level, such local environment features are used as ritual devices to express and support socio-political experiences. At the individual one, the same features can be used during therapeutic or death rituals in respect with some analogies they offer to human existence experiences. Concerning the river case, some comparisons can be traced with the data published by Prof. A. Feldhaus.

The data presented were collected mostly during my PhD fieldwork, between 2000 and 2004.

Paper short abstract:

The Garhwal Himalayas constitute an important area for oral Mahabharata traditions. Regional concepts of space and time are encoded in the oral texts in mythological language. The paper examines these concepts and their relevance for the communities in which these traditions are handed down.

Paper long abstract:

In many of his articles, Günther Sontheimer has stressed the intimate relationships between the immaterial heritage of a rural community - i.e. its oral traditions, festivals and rituals - and the community's engagement with its environment in order to sustain itself. In fact, there exist complex interfaces between such immaterial traditions and moulding of the environment e.g. in form of pastoral cycles and of cultivating sacred places and sacred periods. Statements about the character of time, space and environment that are hidden in the immaterial traditions are not necessarily "realistic" but are meant to propose relationships between the immaterial and the material world, e.g. how the surrounding world is structured in terms of purity and impurity or in terms of fertility and barrenness.

The Garhwali Panduan epic and other oral Mahabharata traditions in this area are ideal media for pursuing the question of the relationship between material and immaterial space and time. They continue to inform and guide the lives of Garhwali communities in numerous ways and they are much more than just epics and ballads. They are performed by low-caste professional bards who are, in some way, the mirror image of the high-caste Brahmins, they are performed for the members of the Rajput caste and for royal gods, and they are performed to link ideal invisible space with concrete landscape and to link past actions of the epic heroes - who were accompanied by the very same bards who were the "witnesses" of their deeds - with the present world.