Patalbhuvneshwar: a new sacred grove from Kumaon HimalayaTI Patalbhuvneshwar: a new sacred grove from Kumaon Himalaya

摘要

Sacred groves are traditionally managed forest patches of palaeo-endemics, which are conserved due to religious beliefs and represent climax vegetation. Sometimes these groves have higher richness and regeneration of medicinal and other economic plants than other reserve forests 1 . It is a myth that every grove is associated with local deities, ancestors or gods, and that all forms of vegetation in such a sacred grove are under the protection of the reigning deity and removal of even the dead wood is a taboo 2 . Studies on sacred groves of Kumaon Himalaya have been undertaken earlier 3–5 but Patalbhuvneshwar, a spectacular ancient cave site and one of the spiritual places of Uttarakhand, is reported here as a sacred grove, as the forest patch around the cave has a rich repository of biological resources along with cultural and indigenous knowledge and is conserved by the local communities on the basis of beliefs that 33 crore Gods and Goddesses reside here (Figure 1).