ABSTRACT
This chapter describes an environmental movement underway in east-central India that has resulted in the creation and regeneration of several hundred sacred natural sites. It is a grassroots-level women's movement grounded in the revivalist worship of an ancient, pre-Sanskritic earth goddess who resides in sacred groves. As a result of this movement women are restoring the biodiversity of existing sacred groves and are also designating new sites as sacred. The movement combines both feminist and environmental activism and is fuelled by instances of possession by the earth goddess. The unique features of this movement are the attempt to link the socio-economic empowerment of rural Indian women with their participation in ritual worship conducted in sacred groves, the strengthening of pre-Sanskritic religious elements among marginalized Indian women and the reclamation of an ancient spirituality and associated landscape by India's marginalized communities.
