Introduction: sacred groves and local gods: religious environmentalism in South India -- Fierce gods and dense forest: sacred groves near Madurai -- A road runs through it: changing meanings in Malaiyali sacred groves in Tiruvannamalai district -- Mixing botany and belief: guardian deities and their forests in the Pondicherry region -- Soteriology and stake-holders: the greening of the Auroville plateau 1973-2007 -- Sacrifice and sacrality: sacred grove restoration projects near Chennai
Summary
Drawing on fieldwork conducted in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu over seven years, Eliza F. Kent offers a compelling examination of the religious and social context in which south India's sacred groves take on meaning for the villagers who maintain them, and shows how they have become objects of fascination and hope for Indian environmentalists
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-221) and index
