Page 12 - Dr. Sachin's Environmental Project on Sacred Groves in Panhala Kolhapur

Dr. Sachin Kondekar
Dr. Sachin Kondekar

Study area

Out of 127 villages 34 villages lies western part of Panhala Taluka. In
which Bajarbhogav to Padsali are covered by dense forest. There are ancient trade route

also be traced. About 200 years ago, goods from Ratnagiri through Kajirda ghat carried

to market place of Bajarbhogav. Later in British era importance of Kajirda ghat is
neglected due to road construction of Anuskura ghat (Pachal-Ratnagiri) and Karul ghat

(Vaibhavwadi).

Through ancient trade route i.e. Bajarbhogav to Padsali, there are 10 sacred

groves are spotted. Namely Padsali (Vithalai),Gothane (Dakroba), Kolik (Rasai), Washi
(Laxmidevi), Manwad (Kalamma), Pisatri (Kedarling),Pombre (Siddhoba), Patpanhala

(Kapling) ,Pohalewadi ( Tamjai), Bajarbhogav ( Bhogeshwar) are documented and
studied.

Table 1: Sacred groves distributed in different parts of India

(Adopted from Malhotra 1998 and Malhotra et al. 2001)

Sr.No. Location Number of Sacred Groves
1
Andhra Pradesh 800

2 Arunachal Pradesh 101

3 Assam 40

4 Gujarat 29

5 Harayana 248
6 Himachal Pradesh 11

7 Karnataka (Coorg) 1214

8 Kerala 2000

9 Madhya Pradesh 275
Maharashtra 1600 Deshmukh et al. (1998)

10 Maharashtra 483 Gadgil and Vartak (1981b)

Maharashtra 250 Godbole et al. (1998)

11 Manipur 365

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