Introduction
It is now increasingly being recognized that
nature and its rich biodiversity still
support, and in turn, are maintained by a
great diversity of ecosystem people and
their cultures the world over (Gadgil, 1995;
McNeely, 1995). The hunter-gatherers and
shifting cultivators throughout the world
typically possessed a 'weltanschauung' in
which man is considered an integral part of
the ecosystem. Such a worldview does not
profess the concept of man-nature dualism,
as emphasized in the western philosophical
thoughts of Descartes, Bacon, Liebnitz, and
many others. The 'organic cosmology' of the
indigenous societies shaped an ecological
ethic that is undermined by western science
and market-oriented culture (Merchant, 1980;
Nelson, 1993). Nevertheless, those
indigenous cultures that are still surviving
retain their traditional ecological ethic,
which now seems to have profound
conservation implications (Gadgil and Guha,
1992).
The Northeastern region of India is home to
myriad tribal and other ethnic groups. Large
sections of these communities can be still
said to attain their livelihood by
exploiting their biomass resources as
'ecosystem people' (Dasmann, 1988; Gadgil,
1995). Such communities characteristically
meet a substantial proportion of their
resource requirements from a relatively
small catchment area in which they have been
living for a long time. Their cultures are
still in perfect harmony with and
spiritually tuned to nature (Saraswati,
1991). The religious practices, folklores
and cosmologies of most of these indigenous
societies maintain a conservationist ethos
in order to sustain their natural resource
base.
The Meiteis of Manipur State, in the extreme
Northeastern corner of India, have been
living in the valley areas of this state
since long. Worship of nature and its
various components form an important part of
the Meitei religious practices. However, the
original animistic religion of the Meiteis
was largely replaced by Hindu Vaishnavism in
the 18th century. The Meitei culture,
including its ethical positions vis-à-vis
nature and biodiversity, was also greatly
influenced by the introduction of this
religious doctrine. Vaishnavism is a cult of
Hinduism that espouses non-violence and
compassion towards other creatures. A unique
intermingling between the naturalistic
animism of the Meiteis and the broadly
ecocentric Vaishnavite worldview, therefore,
gives Meitei culture a uniqueness that is
not encountered in any other part of India.
This paper, therefore, attempts to document
and analyze the community-based conservation
mechanisms in Meitei culture, and assess
their underlying ethics. In an earlier study
on the conservational ethics of some
indigenous societies of North East India, it
has been shown that while most of these are
'shallow' and anthropocentric, some run much
'deeper' and reflect varying degrees of
ecocentrism by recognizing intrinsic values
in non-human components of nature (Gupta and
Guha, 2002).
Methodology
Our study investigated Meitei communities in
the states of Manipur and Assam, in North
East India. The Imphal and Jiribam districts
of Manipur, and several Meitei inhabited
areas in the Cachar district of Assam were
surveyed to locate sacred groves and to know
about the nature-related beliefs and
practices of the people through
participatory appraisal. Interviews and
discussions with villagers, especially the
old people, members of village clubs,
women's groups, 'Maiba-Maibis' (priests and
priestesses), cultivators, fishermen, and
custodians of sacred groves were held.
Furthermore, mailed questionnaires,
interviews with scholars, as well as
information from old texts, etc., were also
used to elicit pertinent information.
Cultural Mechanisms
of Conservation and Their Ethical Basis
Sacred Groves
Sacred groves, or Umang Lais, as they are
called in the Meitei language, are an
integral part of the Manipuri tradition of
nature worship. About 364 sacred groves are
reported to be present in Manipur. Table 1
lists some such sacred groves in Manipur and
in the Cachar district of Assam. Several
species of plants are protected in these
groves, which also offer protection to birds
and animals therein. Most sacred groves have
presiding deities who are often housed in
temples or shrines. These groves might have
been established with the purely
anthropocentric concept of preserving some
greenery in the area, or for maintaining
some trees of religious importance that are
associated with a given deity. However, the
ethical position has gradually transcended
to an ecocentric one with total protection
being accorded to all living beings
including wild animals living in the groves.
Further, Table 1 also reveals that trees
other than those having magico-religious
significance were also planted inside the
grove. These include teak, several fruit
trees like lemon, Ziziphus jujuba and
Eugenia, plants of medicinal value such as
ginger, Eucalyptus, Terminalia arjuna, clove
(Syzgium aromaticum), shade trees also
having ornamental flowers like Gold Mohur,
and multipurpose plants like bamboo. While
these might have been initially planted and
protected because of utilitarian reasons,
the ethical position gradually changed with
these now being considered sacred along with
the deity of the grove. Thus all the plants
in a sacred grove are assigned very high
intrinsic value to the extent of being
considered divine, beyond mere instrumental
or extrinsic value of being useful as a
fruit tree, shade tree, or of medicinal
utility, and the like. Of the nine groves
listed, only one was part of a Forest
Reserve, while the plants in the rest were
most likely to have been planted by the
people who had founded the grove or at a
later date. Some groves might have started
around a tree or a group of trees that had
survived in a given area, and as the grove
and its deity became well-known, other
plants had been introduced.
Tree Worship
Trees are worshipped or given very high
magico-religious value by the Meiteis even
outside the sacred groves (Table 2). The
list reveals a very interesting cultural
intermingling, as some of the plants like
mango, wood apple, Bermuda or 'durva' grass,
and sacred basil (Ocimum sanctum) are either
worshipped or used in religious rituals by
the Hindus all over India. It is, therefore,
obvious that these plants were included by
the Meiteis under the Hindu Vaishnavite
influence. In contrast, tree species like
Toona ciliata is a typical Meitei inclusion,
and is not considered a sacred or protected
tree in other parts of India. The same can
be said about Chinese Sumac (Rhus chinensis),
crowfoot grass (Dactyloctenum aegypticum),
camphor tree (Blumea balsamifera), Xylosoma
longifolia, Oroxylum indicum, Plectranthus
ternifolius and Ficus hispida. Toona ciliata
is a valuable timber tree; crowfoot grass
and Cynodon dactylon are good fodders,
although the latter also has medicinal
value. All the other plants are prized for
their medicinal properties. The extract of
Xylosoma was found to be effective against
nematode parasites (Joymati and Dhanchang,
2001). Thus a given species of tree or other
plant was probably protected initially
purely out of anthropocentric motives, and
declaring them as sacred was merely a
mechanism to ensure their conservation.
Later, however, people started assigning
intrinsic values to them from a religious
viewpoint. Today, the primary reasons for
protecting or worshipping these plants are
their 'divine' associations, while their
utilitarian values have been relegated to a
secondary place. Thus, the religious beliefs
resulted in a shift from mere
anthropocentric to more ecocentric ethical
positions and values, thereby making the
conservational ethos run deeper.
Table 1: Some sacred groves of Manipur,
North East India
|
Name
and location of the sacred grove |
Identified protected plants |
|
Yumjao Lairembi, Khurai, Imphal
East, Manipur |
Bamboos, Rhus chinensis |
|
Lainingthou Puthiba, Khurai,
Imphal East, Manipur |
Tectona grandis (teak),
Ziziphus jujuba, Eucalyptus
sp., Caesalpinia pulcherrima
(Gold Mohur), Toona ciliata
(Australian Red Cidar),
Eupatorium birmanicum, and
others |
|
Yangoiningthou Lainingthou,
Khurai, Imphal East, Manipur |
Eucalyptus sp., C.
pulcherrima (Gold Mohur) |
|
Lai Awangba, Khurai, Imphal
East, Manipur |
Zingiber officinalis, Citrus
sp., Eucalyptus sp.,
Rhus chinensis, Mangifera indica,
Ziziphus jujuba, C. pulcherrima
(Gold Mohur), and others |
|
Konthoujam Lairembi |
Ficus sp. (10 plants in a
series) |
|
Koubru, Phayeng, Manipur |
Rhus chinensis, Citrus
sp. |
|
Mayokpha, Elangbam Leikai,
Imphal, Manipur |
Terminalia arjuna |
|
Phayeng, Phayeng Forest Reserve,
ur |
Rhus chinensis, Pine, Bamboo,
and others |
|
Khoriphaba, Sonai, Cachar, Assam |
Ficus sp., Syzgium
aromaticum, Eugenia jambolina,
and others |
Table 2:
Plants worshipped or attributed
magico-religious importance by the
Meiteis.
|
Plants worshipped |
Plants given
magical-religious importance |
|
Ficus religiosa (Peepul) |
Toona ciliata (Australian
Red Cidar) |
|
Ficus bengalensis
(Banyan) |
Dactyloctenum aegypticum
(Crowfoot grass) |
|
Hydnocarpus kurjii |
Blumea balsamifera
(Camphor) |
|
Mangifera indica (Mango) |
Mangifera indica |
|
Ocimum sanctum (Sacred
Basil) |
Ocimum sanctum |
|
Terminalia arjuna |
Cynodon dactylon (Bermuda
or Durva grass) |
| |
Aegle marmalos (Wood
apple) |
| |
Xylosoma longifolia |
| |
Oroxylum indicum |
| |
Plectranthus ternifolius |
Taboos on
Harvesting and Consumption of Plants
The naturalistic worldview of the Meitei has
prompted him to declare a plant or plants
taboo on a given day of a week (Table 3). It
may be seen that bamboo is taboo three days
a week, as well as on every new moon day.
The reasons are obviously anthropocentric,
as bamboo has multiple uses in the village
economy, being used as a "poor man's
timber', as food (shoots), for storing
grains and even money, and for making bows,
arrows and a vast array of household items,
and hence needs to be exploited prudently.
Similarly, Oenanthe javanica (water dropwort
or water parsley) is not consumed in the
monsoon month of August, perhaps to
facilitate its colonization and propagation
in the extensive wetlands of the state.
Other edibles like Cucurbita moschata
(pumpkin or sweet gourd), Portulaca sp.,
Nelumbo nucifera, Polygonum chinensis and
Chenopodium album, as well as medicinal
plants like Gynura cusimba and Alpinia
galanga are not consumed or used by one
Meitei clan or the other, presumably to
ensure prudent and sustainable harvesting.
Again, Adhatoda vasica, a medicinal plant
used widely throughout India for treating
cough, is also a taboo in Manipur on
Sundays; the reason being that Sunday is
believed to be the birthday of this plant.
Thus this plant is assigned an intrinsic
value only in Manipur, but not in the other
parts of India. Similarly, bottle gourd, ash
gourd and banana (Lagenaria siceraria,
Benincasa hispida, and Musa balbisiana,
respectively), are not consumed during the
period of worship of Goddess Durga (an
Indian Goddess who slays evil forces), as
these plants or their fruits are believed to
represent the different body parts of the
Goddess. However, to our knowledge, such a
taboo is only observed by the Meiteis, and
not in the other parts of India or even in
Bengal, wherefrom the worship of this
Goddess was introduced in Manipur. Thus,
recognition of intrinsic values in all the
aforementioned plants takes the Meitei
conservational ethics onto a higher plane
from a mere anthropocentric, need-based one.
Table 3:
Plants taboo on specific days or
periods, or to a particular clan of
Meiteis.
|
Name of the plant |
Nature of taboo |
Associated beliefs, if any |
|
Bamboo- different species |
Not harvested on Tuesday,
Thursday, and Saturday, and on
new moon days |
- |
|
Banana |
Not harvested on Saturday |
- |
|
hatoda vasica |
Not harvested on Sunday |
Sunday is the birthday of this
plant |
|
Almost all trees |
Not felled on Friday |
Gods take rest on the trees on
this day |
|
Oenanthe javanica (water
dropwort or water parsley) |
Not consumed during
August-September |
Violator will have worms in
stomach |
|
Luffa cylindrica |
Not consumed by the Ningthouja
clan |
- |
|
Cucurbita moschata (pumpkin or
sweet gourd) |
Not consumed by the Luwang clan |
- |
|
Bombax ceiba (silk cotton),
Portulaca sp., Gynura cusimba |
Not used or consumed by the
Khuman clan |
- |
|
Alpinia galanga, Nelumbo
nucifera (upto March) |
Not consumed by the Khabanganba
clan |
- |
|
Polygonum chinensis, Chenopodium
album |
Not consumed by the Angom clan |
- |
Taboos on Hunting and
Consumption of Animals
Fishes, waterfowl and other aquatic animals
like snails, insects and crustaceans are
very common items in the diet of the Meitei.
However, many of these animals are not eaten
during certain periods, perhaps with the
pure anthropocentric motive of sustainable
harvesting and conservation (Table 4).
However, some of these are total taboo for
certain clans, while certain others are
taboo for all clans during specific seasons
or occasions or even throughout the year.
Thus the conservational ethics transcends to
ecocentrism in certain cases. The Meiteis
also observe prudent harvesting practices
for some aquatic animals. For instance, the
snail, Brotia costula, is collected before
thunder and lightning, and the collection
always proceeds from downstream towards
upstream, as such practices are believed to
prevent collection of gravid females.
Environmental
Ethics in Folklores and Rituals
Several Meitei folklores reflect an
ecocentric worldview. For instance, a
folklore called 'Hijan Hiraao' vividly
portrays the lamentations of the parents of
a young tree that had grown tall and strong
and consequently had been marked to be
felled for making a boat. Finally, however,
the tree parents bless their young son and
ask him to make a sacrifice, so that he can
be used for making a good boat that will
carry the people safely across the waters.
Perhaps because of this folklore, it is a
custom for the Maiba-Maibi (priest and
priestess) of Manipur to always ask
forgiveness of a tree whenever it is cut for
some purpose. In the same vein, another
folklore describes the kindness of an ox
that took care of an orphaned brother and
sister named Khamba and Khamnu. In yet
another folktale, the soul of a girl named
Sandrembi was successively converted into a
dove, a mango tree and a citrus tree, after
she was killed by another girl named
Chaishra and her mother. In another version
of the same folktale, it was Sandrembi's
mother who was killed by Chaishra's mother,
and the former was transformed into a
turtle. However, the wicked lady came to
know about this, and killed and ate her. It
is said that since that time, the Meiteis
have a feeling of compassion towards this
animal, and it is a taboo for the entire
Ningthouja clan. The mango and citrus trees
are also held in esteem by the Meiteis, and
are often offered protection. The creation
of the Manipur valley is also believed to be
the work of a gigantic fish, Hutunga, with a
pointed snout. This fish is said to have
drilled a hole in the Chingnunghut Mountain
to drain the seawater under which the
landmass of the present day Manipur Valley
was submerged in ancient times. The snail,
Brotia costula, is a very favored food item
in Manipur. There is an ancient folk song,
which describes how people fleeing to the
hills during the war sustained themselves on
this snail, sackfuls of which were carried
by them to meet their nutritional
requirements. As shown in Table 4, this
snail is not consumed by the Meiteis
belonging to the Ningthouja and the Khuman
clans. Furthermore, all Meiteis observe some
precautions while harvesting this snail from
the water bodies. Thus this lower animal has
been assigned some intrinsic values by the
Meiteis. Fishes belonging to the genus
Channa also enjoy an exalted position in
Meitei culture. During 'Thou-touba', a
traditional ceremony for appeasing the Gods,
these fishes are released into water bodies.
If the fishes swim away actively, it is
considered a good omen and vice versa. A
pair of this fish is also let off in nearby
ponds during marriage for bringing
prosperity to the young couple.
Conclusions
Conservation of the elements of biodiversity
through various sacred uses of nature such
as maintenance of sacred groves, tree and/or
animal worship, and observing taboos on
harvesting and hunting of plants and animals
is characteristic of many indigenous
communities in India (Gadgil and Vartak,
1981; Ramakrishnan et al., 1998; Syngai,
1999; Guha et al., 1999; Deb and Malhotra,
2001). A similar ethics underlies the Shinto
faith of Japan, which located its shrines in
'Himorogi' (places where trees grow thick),
as forests were believed to be the places
where a divine atmosphere prevailed. A
similar practice is followed by the Ami
tribe of Taiwan, which worships various
species of trees or sacred plots of land, in
the belief that Gods reside in these
entities or places (Kato, 1993). The present
paper shows that the Meiteis also possess
certain religious beliefs and practices that
result in the conservation of nature and its
biodiversity. These beliefs and customs have
also had great influence on their attitude
towards nature, and have resulted in the
society's recognition of the "bequest
values" of the elements of biodiversity.
However, from an ethical viewpoint, we are
not merely interested in the use of religion
in conservation, but in the motive behind
conservation, and in the values recognized
in nature and its various living and even
non-living components. An anthropocentric
basis for conservation can at best make man
a good steward of nature and ensure its
sustainable utilization. In contrast, only
an ecocentric ethic can raise man to the
state of a partner of nature or a
participant in nature's own goal of
attaining perfect harmony not only among all
living things, but also between living and
non-living.
As shown earlier, these values could range
from 'shallow' extrinsic or instrumental
reflecting an anthropocentric ethics, or
could be 'deep' and intrinsic, signifying an
ecocentric philosophy. The practice of
worshipping plants and animals by
associating them with Gods and attributing
magico-religious values to plants and
animals suggest that the Meitei
environmental ethics does not recognize the
philosophy of man-nature dualism, and does
not always put man on an exalted alter, or
give him a mandate to lord over the other
creatures. The expression of innate love and
respect for everything alive, an attitudinal
state referred to as 'biophilia' (Fromm,
1973; Wilson, 1988), is very much evident in
the Meitei culture. This biophilia induces a
Meitei to sacrifice animals to God not by
killing them, but by setting them free in
their own habitat. Similar attitude of
biophilia is also reflected in the different
folktales where the joys and sorrows of
animals and even plants ascend to a human
scale. The Meitei weltanschauung even goes
beyond biophilia to 'ecophilia' or 'cosmophilia'
through the practice of 'Chingoiron' - the
worship of hills and mountains, and 'Nungoiron'
- the worship of stones. Although the
original animistic religion of the Meiteis
was later replaced by Hindu Vaishnavism,
they did not forsake their naturalistic
ethics. This was possible because even the
Vaishnavite movement in Bengal was basically
reformist in nature and had rejected the
orthodox animal sacrifice based religious
practices to conceive and propagate an
ethics of humility and 'jive daya' or
'compassion towards all creatures' including
fellow human beings. Consequently, this
religious philosophy did not enter into any
conflict with the biophilia of the Meiteis,
and instead absorbed into its repertory
their ecocentric ethical elements. Under the
influence of this new religion, many Meiteis
gave up eating meat and eggs, and began to
worship the cow. They also added to their
already long list of sacred plants those
that were worshipped or held sacred in the
mainstream Hindu religion, thereby enriching
their own conservation-oriented traditions.
Thus the Meitei culture represents a
confluence of two distinct streams of
religious thoughts, which in spite of
retaining their separate identities, did not
come into conflict, and instead synthesized
a worldview saturated with 'ecophilia' and
deep ecological ethical realizations.
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Table 4:
Fish and other animals taboo during
specific periods, occasions, or in
different Meetei clans.
|
Animal(s) |
Nature of taboo |
|
Mystus cavasius (fish) |
Not consumed during April-May |
|
Clarias batrachus (fish) |
Not consumed during May-June and
December-January |
|
Osteobrama cotio (fish) |
Not consumed during June-July |
|
Bagarius yerrelli (fish) |
Not consumed during July-August |
|
Botia spp. (fish), crabs |
Not consumed during
August-September |
|
Macronacthus aral (fish),
ducks |
Not consumed during
September-October |
|
Wallago attu (fish) |
Not consumed during
October-November |
|
Monoptera spp. (fish) |
Not consumed during
November-December |
|
Esomus donricus (fish) |
Not consumed during
January-February |
|
Puntius spp. (fish),
turtles and tortoises |
Not consumed during
February-March |
|
Lepidocephalus berdmorei,
Labeo rohita (fish) |
Not consumed during March-April |
|
Turtles and tortoises, Brotia
costula (snail),
Macrognathus spp.,
Bagarius spp. (fish) |
Not consumed by the Ningthouja
clan |
|
Brotia costula (snail),
Macrognathus spp.,
Bagarius spp., Channa
morulius, Mastacembalus
spp., (fish), egg and meat
of many animals |
Not consumed by the Khuman clan |
|
Field rats |
Not consumed by the Khabanganba
clan |
|
Passer domesticus
(Sparrow) |
Not consumed by the Moirang clan |
|
Frogs |
Not consumed by Meiteis, as it
prevents entry to heaven
|
|
All animals |
Not consumed during their mating
season(s) |
|
All animals |
Not consumed by pregnant women |
|
All animals including fish |
Not consumed for 12 days after
the death of a family member
|
|
All animals including fish |
Not consumed on the day of the
death every month for one year |
|
All animals including fish |
Not consumed on the death
anniversary |
|
All animals including fish |
Not consumed on the Meitei New
Year Day by some clans |
*** The
authors are with the Dept. of Ecology, Assam
University, Silchar - 788011, Assam, India |
