As we set out for a darshan of Sri Omkareshwara from our forest lodge at Madikeri, gray hornbills are flapping out of Guler trees at dawn.

The birds live in sacred groves called Devakadu , which have been protected for centuries by the local Kodavas. Their belief in the power of the spirit world forbids them from taking even a single twig or berry from these jungle sanctuaries of the gods.

This might explain the presence of so many wild creatures in our vicinity, which are otherwise conspicuously absent in unprotected areas. In the Kodava pantheon, such an endlessly bountiful aspect of Nature is incarnated in the Great Spirit called Igguthappa. Igguthappa literally means “Giver of Grains” .

He also embodies a deep ecological irony of the sacred forest grove – and that is, Nature thrives best only when humans exploit it the least. Biodiversity, therefore, remains inversely proportional to intensity and scale of use.

The Great Spirit that supposedly fulfils all the desires of the devotees also teaches them the value of forbearance and curbing of wanton use of scarce resources. From base to top, the towering Ironwood trees in the sacred grove are covered with gorgeous bunches of electric blue flowers . Over several centuries, these have never been plucked!

In stark contrast, scores of majestic trees lining the old roads of Kodava coffee lands are being slaughtered to make way for wider lanes. The spindly green saplings lining the new roads can never hope to attain their full stature without watchful care and compassion provided by humans lasting several generations.

source: http://www.articles.economictimes.timesofindia.com / The Economic Times / Home> Opinion> Spiritual Atheist / by Vithal C. Nadkarni, ET Bureau / May 29th, 2013