bhopal conserving the sacred groves of the country the indira gandhi rashtriya manav sangrahalay igrms celebrated the culture of local communities of the country and encourages the communities living in small villages of different states to preserve their culture as part of the sacred grove celebration the museum invited the people of malayali community at the kavu sacred groove at the museumthe people of malayali community along with former director of kerala institute for research training development kirtads n vishwanathan nair performed the rituals and offered prayers to their deitiesnair who is actively involved in the conservation of art and culture said that kavu refers to a dense area of forest considered to be sacred by the locals the area is a brilliant example of natural ecosystem and the temperature inside the grove is lower than the city area due to the dense treesin the time when forests are being chopped down and climate change is so prominent it is our moral responsibility to protect these sacred groves to maintain the ecological balance you can find relief from scorching heat and find medicinal plants here you can see most of the rare species of plants and animals in the sacred groves and it is a good initiative by igrms to have grown such dense sacred groves in its premises said nairhe further told the visitors that the sacred groves are breeding areas of many rare birds and bats that play a vital role in the ecosystem as they are important agents of pollinationmany members of the malayali community like m sahadevan kani jayarajan gopinath kani and aiyappan kani performed the rites and rituals of the sacred grove at the museum on thursday