Bhopal: The sacred groves of Rajasthan, ‘Oran,’ are on display at the official websites and social media pages of the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya (IGRMS), Bhopal. It is part of its Online Exhibition Series-44, which began on Thursday. The sacred groves of Rajasthan are installed in the open-air exhibition of the museum.
Director of the museum Praveen Kumar Mishra says that Oran means a small forest. It is mandatory for every Sathri (temple) to have an Oran, where felling of trees is strictly prohibited, according to the principles of the Bishnoi community of Rajasthan.
Orans serve as a refuge to many birds and are frequented by many animal species, such as the black buck and Indian gazelle, which are listed species under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
On the museum campus, the Oran precincts have been designed with the plantation of rare and endangered species collected from western Rajasthan. The major plant species on these precincts comprise Prosopis cineraria (Khejari), Tecomella undulata (Roheda), Capparis decidua (Karira), and Calligonum polygonoides (Phog), Mishra adds.
