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.