The Abodes of Serpents and Dancing Leopards: Tantric Spirituality and Reverential Eco-Fear in Sacred Groves (kāvus) of Kerala

Sacred groves (kāvus) in Kerala hold deep cultural and spiritual significance, shaped by indigenous reverence, fear, and awe of nature. Using textual sources, oral exegesis, and anthropological fieldwork, the article examines spaces within the groves designated for Tantric healing and empowerment. It focuses on indigenous reverential eco-fear, festival rituals, acts reversing misfortune, and the conferral of blessings at Kaḷiyāṭṭakkāvu. The paper also explores how mantravādins and Tantric experts invoke animal spirits and interact with natural and supernatural environments. Indigenous environmental knowledge emerges from encounters between humans, forest spirits, multi-faith communities, and local Tantric experts, motivated by fear.

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Abstract

The article explores the cultural significance of the sacred groves (kāvus) of Kerala and their relationship to various notions of nature, ecology and indigenous spirituality. We employ a mixed method of research that combines textual sources and oral exegesis as well as anthropological fieldwork to investigate the spaces within the kāvus that are designated for Tantric healing and empowerment. We pursue this line of inquiry with particular attention to the idea of indigenous reverential eco-fear, the fear and awe that indigenous communities have of the sacredness of nature. In the first part of the paper, we attempt to shed light on the Tantric spirituality of the groves by analyzing the indigenous reverential eco-fear, the festival rituals, the acts of reversal of misfortune and the conferral of blessings in Kaḷiyāṭṭakkāvu. The second part of the paper examines how the mantravādins and Tantric experts invoked the various animal spirits and interacted with the natural and supernatural environment through spiritual practices. The paper shows how different forms of indigenous environmental knowledge are motivated by fear and how they emerge from encounters between humans and forest spirits, multi-faith communities and local Tantric experts.