The Khasi people believe their deity Labasa will punish those who try to remove anything from the grove located in the North-Eastern state of Meghalaya. So, no one dares to even pluck a leaf in this forest!

By Sayantani Deb

Twenty-five km from Meghalaya’s capital city Shillong lies the pristine forest of Hima Mawphlang (Kingdom of Mawphlang), where over 450 species of trees, herbs and wildlife, including clouded leopard, monkeys, deer and frogs of the genus Rana, thrive. This is no ordinary forest, but a sacred grove, where belief and conservation go hand in hand.

Labasa, the deity that governs the law-kyntang (the Khasi equivalent of sacred grove), can both protect and punish. Take a twig or pluck a leaf, and you are inviting the deity’s wrath and bad luck. This belief in itself has thrown a ring of protection around the nearly 800-year-old forest spread across 193 acres.

Located in East Khasi Hills district, the forest belongs to the native Khasi tribe, an indigenous ethnic group found in the Northeast. Its residents still identify themselves with the ancient Kingdom of Mawphlang and even now have a king elected democratically. The present king belongs to the Lyngdoh clan.

The Office of Hima Mawphlang decides on all matters related to the sacred grove. The responsibility to protect it lies with the men of 12 clans — Lyngdoh, Blah, Kharshiing, Kharsohliya, Kharhunai, Kharnarbi, Kharsahkar, Kharmawphlang, Kharmaram, Kharlangnuih, Kharphyrnap and Kharkalong — living in villages in the vicinity.