- Sacred grove
Sacred groves were a feature of the mythological landscape and the cult practice of Old Europe, of the most ancient levels of
Germanic paganism ,Greek mythology ,Slavic mythology ,Roman mythology , and in Druidic practice. Sacred groves also feature prominently in many Asian and African mythologies and cultures, most notably inIndia ,Japan ,West Africa , andAnatolia .Ancient Near East
Excavations at
Labraunda have revealed a large shrine - which, according toHerodotus was supposed to have contained a sacred grove. The site was sacred to bothCarian s andMysian s.In Syria, some sacred groves are believed to have been made during
Assyria n times.Greco-Roman polytheism
The most famous sacred grove in mainland Greece was the oak grove at
Dodona . Outside the walls of Athens, the site of theAcademy was a sacred grove of olive trees, still recalled in the phrase "the groves of Academe."In central Italy, the town of
Nemi recalls theLatin "nemus Aricinum", or "grove ofAriccia ", a small town a quarter of the way around the lake. In Antiquity the area had no town, but the grove was the site of one of the most famous of Roman cults and temples: that ofDiana Nemorensis , a study of which served as the seed for SirJames Frazer 's seminal work on the anthropology of religion, "The Golden Bough ". [James Frazer, The Golden Bough, Dover reprint of 1922 abridged edition, (ISBN 0-486-42492-8)]A sacred grove behind the House of the
Vestal Virgins on the edge of theRoman Forum lingered until its last vestiges were burnt in theGreat Fire of Rome in 64 CE.In the town of
Spoleto ,Umbria , two stones from the late third century BCE, inscribed in archaic Latin, established punishments for the profanation of the woods dedicated to Jupiter ("Lex Luci Spoletina") have survived; they are preserved in the National Archeological Museum of Spoleto [ [http://www.eng.archeopg.arti.beniculturali.it/canale.asp?id=436 National Archeological Museum of Spoleto] website entry for the exhibit of the inscribed stones] .The "Bosco Sacro" (literally "sacred grove") at
Bomarzo , Italy is a well-known sculpture garden and sacred grove.Baltic polytheism
Sacred groves have survived in the Baltic states longer than in other parts of Europe. The main
Baltic Prussian sanctuary, which is also considered a sacred grove wasRomowe . The last extermination of sacred groves was carried out in the lands of present-dayLithuania after its Christianization in 1387 andSamogitia in 1413. A sacred grove is known as "alka(s)" in Lithuanian.Germanic polytheism
Sacred groves feature prominently in Scandinavian mythology. The most famous sacred grove of Northern Europe was at the
Temple at Uppsala inOld Uppsala , where every tree was considered sacred - described byAdam of Bremen . The practice ofBlót - the sacrificial ritual inNorse paganism was usually held in "Lund"s or sacred groves. According to Adam of Bremen, in Scandinavia, pagan kings sacrificed nine males of each species at the sacred groves every ninth year. [Tshan, Francis J. [http://scandinavian.wisc.edu/mellor/myth/pdf_files/AdamBremen.pdf Adam of Bremen] ]The pagan Germanic tribes also performed tree-worship and had the concept of sacred groves. It is thought that the idea of sacred trees like the
Thor's Oak might have led to the concept of the present dayChristmas tree .Celtic polytheism
The Celts used sacred groves, called "
nemeton " in Gaulish, for performing ritual animal and human sacrifices, and other rituals, based onCeltic mythology . The deity involved was usuallyNemetona - a Celtic goddess.Druid s oversaw such rituals. Existence of such groves have been found inGermany ,Switzerland ,Czech Republic andHungary in Central Europe, in many sites of ancientGaul inFrance , as well asEngland andNorthern Ireland . Sacred grove remains had been plentiful up until the3rd century BC , when the Romans attacked and conquered Gaul. One of the most well known "nemeton" sites is that in the "Nevet" forest nearLocronan inBretagne ,France .Gournay-sur-Aronde (Gournay-on-Aronde), a village in theOise department of France, also houses the remains of a "nemeton". [Venceslas Kruta , "Les Celtes, Histoire et dictionnaire", Robert Laffont, coll. Bouquins, Paris, 2000, (ISBN 2-7028-6261-6)] [Maurice Meuleau, "Les Celtes en Europe", Éditions Édilarge, Rennes, 2004, (ISBN 2-7028-9095-4)]Nemetons were often fenced off by enclosures, as indicated by the German term "Viereckschanze" - meaning a quadrangular space surrounded by a ditch enclosed by wooden palisades.
Many of these groves, like the sacred grove at
Didyma , Turkey are thought to be "nemeton"s, sacred groves protected bydruid s based onCeltic Mythology . In fact, according toStrabo , the central shrine atGalatia was called "Drunemeton". [Horace L. Jones, ed. and tr. The Geography of Strabo. Vols 1-8, containing Books 1-17. Harvard University Press and Heinemann, 1917-32] Some of these were also sacred groves in Greek times (as in the case of Didyma), but were based on a different or slightly changed mythology.India
In India, sacred groves are scattered all over the country, and do not enjoy protection via federal legislation. Some NGOs work with local villagers to protect such groves. Each grove is associated with a presiding deity, and the grove are referred to by different names in different parts of India. They were maintained by local communities with hunting and logging strictly prohibited within these patches. While most of these sacred deities are associated with local Hindu gods, sacred groves of Islamic and Buddhist origins are also known. Sacred groves occur in a variety of places - from scrub forests in the
Thar Desert ofRajasthan maintained by theBishnoi s, torain forest s in theKerala Western Ghats .Himachal Pradesh in the North andKerala in the South are specifically known for their large numbers of sacred groves. [A [http://www.cseindia.org/dte-supplement/forest20031231/forest-index.htm series] of articles in the journal "Down to Earth" on sacred groves]Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings. Experts believe that the total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000. Threats to the groves include urbanization, over-exploitation of resources, and environmental destruction from Hindu religious practices. While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu gods, in the recent past a number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples. [Malhotra, K. C., Ghokhale, Y., Chatterjee, S. and Srivastava, S., Cultural and Ecological Dimensions of Sacred Groves in India, INSA, New Delhi, 2001] [Ramachandra Guha, The Unquiet Woods, University of California Press, 2000 (ISBN 978-0520222359)]
Ritualistic dances and dramatizations based on the local deities that protect the groves are called "Theyyam" in Kerala and "Nagmandalam", among other names, in
Karnataka .West Africa
The concept of sacred groves is present in
Nigeria n mythology as well. The Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, containing dense forests, is located just outside the city ofOsogbo , and is regarded as one of the last virgin high forests in Nigeria. It is dedicated to the fertility god inYoruba mythology , and is dotted with shrines and sculptures. Suzanne Wenger, an Austrian artist, has helped revive the grove. The grove was designated as anUNESCO World Heritage Site in2005 . [ [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1118 Entry] at theUNESCO website] .Sacred groves are also present in
Ghana . One of Ghana's most famous sacred groves - the Buoyem Sacred Grove - and numerous other sacred groves are present in theTechiman Municipal District and nearby districts of theBrong Ahafo Region . They provide a refuge for wildlife which has been exterminated in nearby areas, and one grove most notably houses 20,000fruit bat s in underground caves. [ [http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/mgroups/success/2000/SARD-19.htm Entry] at the United Nations Division of Sustainable Development] The capital of the historicalGhana Empire "El-Ghaba", contained a sacred grove for performing religious rites of theSoninke people . Other sacred groves in Ghana include sacred groves along the coastalsavannah s of Ghana [Michael O'Neal Campbell, Traditional forest protection and woodlots in the coastal savannah of Ghana, Environmental Conservation (2004), 31: 225-232 Cambridge University Press] . Many sacred groves in Ghana are now under federal protecttion - like the "Anweam Sacred Grove" in theEsukawkaw Forest Reserve [Boakye Amoako-Atta, [http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0011/001138/113898eo.pdf Preservation of Sacred Groves in Ghana: Esukawkaw Forest Reserve and its Anweam Sacred Grove] , Working Papers, South-South Co-operation Programme for Environmentally Sound Socio-Economic Development in the Humid Tropics, UNESCO] Other well-known sacred groves in Ghana include the "Malshegu Sacred Grove" in Northern Ghana - one of the last remaining closed canopy forests in the savannah regions [C. Dorm-Adzobu, O. Ampadu-Agyei, and P. Veit; Religious Beliefs and Environmental Protection: The Malshegu Sacred Grove in Northern Ghana; World Resources Institute and African Centre for Technology Studies, Washington DC, 1991] , and the Jachie sacred grove.Japan
Sacred groves in Japan are typically associated with
Shinto shrine s, and are located all over Japan. TheCryptomeria tree is venerated inShinto practice, and considered sacred. Among the sacred groves associated with such "jinja"s or Shinto shrines are the shrine atAtsuta-ku, Nagoya - one of the most important Shinto shrines in Japan, and theKashima Shrine - now protected as part of theKashima Wildlife Preservation Area , on account of its varied bird life and plant life (it houses over 800 kinds of trees). [ [http://int.kateigaho.com/spr05/forests-sacred.html A guide] to Japan's sacred forests at "kateigaho.com"]The
Utaki sacred sites (often with associated burial grounds) onOkinawa are based onRyukyuan religion , and usually are associated withtoun or "kami-asagi" - regions dedicated to the gods where people are forbidden to go. Sacred groves are often present in such places, as also inGusuku s - fortified areas which contain sacred sites within them. [Asato Susumu, [http://www.jpf.go.jp/e/culture/news/0412/img/pdf/report07.pdf From Gusuku to Utaki : Okinawa’s Sacred Areas from an Archeological Perspective] , Board of Education of Urasoe ] TheSeifa-utaki was designated as aUNESCO World Heritage Site designated in2003 . It consists of a triangular cavern formed by gigantic rocks, and contains a sacred grove with rare, indigenous trees like theKubanoki (a kind of palm) and the "yabunikkei" orCinnamomum japonicum (a form of wild cinnamon). Direct access to the grove is forbidden.References
External links
* [http://www.ignca.nic.in/cd_08008.htm M. D. Subash Chandran Madhav Gadgil, "Sacred Groves and Sacred Trees of Uttara Kannada"]
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