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Kankabati Sitabala Than Sacred Grove
Kankabati/Lodhasai villages, West Midnapore district, West Bengal
India
Active
Single grove
- Location
- Kankabati/Lodhasai villages, West Midnapore district, West Bengal
- Coordinates
- ~22.4°N 87.3°E
- Size
- 4 acres (~1.6 ha)
- Age / Founded
- ~800-year-old relict vegetation
- Status
- Active
- Deity & Religion
- Sitabala/Sitala (folk goddess, aniconic vermillion termite mound); Hindu folk
- Community & Guardians
- Tribal & non-tribal villagers
- Vernacular name
- Than (Garamthan/Jaherthan)
- Record type
- Single grove
Cultural practices & uses
Daily worship; Makar Sankranti fair (mid-Jan); clay horse/elephant votives
Plant species
Evergreen & deciduous relict trees
Biome & fauna
Part-marshy, part-terrestrial forest island amid crop fields
Threats & protection
Taboo-protected; surrounded by agriculture
Source
Bhakat & Sen 2015, Conservation Values of a Sacred Grove in Medinipur, XXVI(1-4)