This post is for you Shobha. Shobha is a dear friend in Chennai and a reader of this blog, although she does not comment. She is passionate about trees and is an encyclopaedia on anything green. She runs an organisation called Nizhal, dedicated to the welfare of trees. She does yeoman service in the state of Tamil Nadu with planting and protecting trees and would love this post. I had it on my radar to go to this place, but was specially motivated to do it and write up this post for her.

The Khasis believe that a deity called Labasa resides in the Sacred Grove, which is about 30 kms away from Shillong in the village of Mawphlang . It is a forest of some 75 hectares with a bio diversity of some 400 species of trees. Khasis rever this grove and the blessings of the deity is taken before important events, or if there are calamities in the community. They believe that if the deity is pleased, it manifests in the form of a leopard and if it is annoyed, it comes as a snake. There are legends galore of such sightings.

The grove is sacred and the Khasis and visitors visit it with respect. Absolutely nothing is allowed to be taken out of the grove, not even a leaf. There are many flowering and fruit plants, but they are never taken out. You can eat a fruit inside the grove but not bring it out. If a tree falls, it is left there. Such is the respect.

In the past, animal sacrifices used to be done inside to propitiate the deity, but it was stopped some 50-60 years ago. Now it is just prayer and offerings.

The villagers are walking botanists . They know the local Khasi name of every tree. Most of the trees are flowering trees and many are fruit trees as well. During summer, when it rains, it must be a sight to see. Full of multi coloured flowers, it is a magnet for tourists who come in numbers for it is easily accessible from Shillong. Mrs Chatterjee is here (khub bhalo) and Tubluda takes a lot of photographs with her against the background of many a colourful tree in the very admirable, but vain, quest to improve the general beauty of the scene !

Now it is the dry season, and it is a much more sober picture. Very peaceful and quiet. It is an experience to stand in the middle of the grove at the most holy place and hear the sounds of silence. Or was it the deity whistling in the wind ?

Many of the trees have medicinal properties which my friend explained. The trees outside the grove are used for extracting medicines - the trees inside the grove are never touched. I didn't catch all the details, but their knowledge of trees, its qualities and properties is admirable.

There is a huge playground in front of the Sacred Grove and of all the things, it is to host a "Slow Food Festival" in November. Apparently this is a movement started in Italy against the Fast Food culture. Given that there are a number of gourmet connoisseurs amongst the readers, I thought I must mention this :)

But back to the Sacred Grove. Come here one day Shobha. This is a place you will instantly fall in love with.