Karnataka: Foresters watch as people throng temples in tiger reserves

Bengaluru: For the last three weeks, hundreds of villagers are walking through the core area of Bandipur Tiger Reserve, to visit an old temple. As the devotees walk, they make loud sounds to keep elephants and other wild animals at bay. Meanwhile, the foresters are helplessly watching the crowd, which is growing with every passing year.

The Ainur Marigudu temple, located in the Maddur Wildlife Range of the Reserve, has now become a bone of contention for foresters, who are trying to keep off human movement in most parts of the forest.

This particular deity is worshipped by seven villages that are located on the fringes of the forests, near Baragi area. The villagers take turns to visit the temple and so far about four villages have finished their worship in the jungle temple and more will be arriving over the next one month.

For the last two years, the foresters have been trying to convince the devotees from all seven villages to visit the temple at one time so that the regular movement of human beings in such large numbers could be avoided. But they haven’t been able to get the villagers to co-operate till now. The foresters are also worried that they will be blamed if an elephant or any other wild animal attacks the villagers while inside the forest. “We are now planning to seek the intervention of pontiffs of ‘maths’ so that they can convince the villagers to pray at the same time or shift the temple to the periphery. There are more temples inside Bandipur, of which some will be shifted outside the forest area. Once this year’s rituals are over, we shall speak to the villagers about our views on this matter,” says Mr H C Kantharaj, the Director of the Bandipur Reserve.

The wildlife experts point out that the forests, especially the Tiger Reserves must be set apart from temples and rituals. “The temples inside the forests are the biggest threat to the survival of wildlife. With hundreds of people walking in the forest regularly, it may even send some animals straying outside the forest, increasing the potential for conflict. Last year an animal sacrifice was conducted in Aanechowkur Range, which was attended by a former minister.

Worse, some of the Rangers working in Nagarhole are offering mass lunches to the villagers who come to pray at forest temples. If such practices are not curtailed we will see mini townships sprouting around these temples in a few years. For instance, Ulavi in Anashi-Dandeli Tiger Reserve had nothing but a temple 20 years ago, but today it’s bustling with shops and devotees. One can hardly spot any wildlife around this area today,” say the wildlife experts.

Two years ago, the forest department had prepared a list of temples located in the forests of Bandipur and Nagarahole. They had also proposed to shift some of the temples to curb the entry of the public into wildlife areas. Both these Tiger Reserves have about 35 temples, but so far the department has not been able to shift even one temple! “The foresters must try to go beyond political pressures. Most of these villages are vote banks and politicians promise them visits and rituals in forest temples. Last week the foresters in Bandipur were forced to close a trench to allow a tractor full of people inside the core area to attend a temple ritual. The department, and government in particular must put a stop to such activities,” the experts demand.