From Grove to Temple

Abstract

Sacred groves are very important elements of Hinduism, and take on different characteristics in different parts of India, just like Hinduism does. However, due to political, cultural or social processes, some of these forests have been converted into temples, and the rituals practiced there have been brought closer to the dominant Brahminical cult, with an evident loss to the richness and cultural diversity of Indian spiritual practices. Those processes can mostly be viewed as Templisation, Sanskritization, and Hinduization. In this short essay we examine the consequences of those procedures upon the sacred groves of northern Kerala, and especially upon the ritual of the teyyams, living gods who inhabit these woods.