An Eco-resort located between the eastern and western Ghats, in beautiful forest- Biligiri Rangan Hills, a 3 hour drive from Bangalore.
The location is beautiful! Not only is it surrounded by nature, but what really is special about the place is the people that it this place supports, the Soliga tribe. The Soliga tribe have been living on their own in the Biligiri Rangan Hills, for hundreds of years. They are a beautiful example of people who know how to live one with nature. Most all of their food comes from the jungle. They do grow finger millet, but apart from this small organic growing operation, everything else comes from the jungle. They used to be semi-nomadic - meaning they would spend one year in a location at a time, where they would farm millet and build temporary homes, although they are also completely capable of sleeping out in the open!
I met a few people from the tribe and I felt I was only bursting with questions.
They are very sweet, genuine warm hearted people. I was about ready to move in!
They are so one with nature, let me list a few of what they had mentioned to me:
- They have a remedy for cobra snake bites, derived from plants, they learn how to stay calm
enough to not allow the poison to kill them for 2 hours, until they have access to a plant remedy.
I had read that some 95% of people who die from snake bites, actually die from shock not the poison. I mentioned this to the man I was speaking with and he believed this to be true, he said that within the tribe, they learn how to stay calm, under these circumstances.
- They have a medicinal plant for those who have jaundice, which they can heal the person in 3 days with this plant.
- They have the ability to smell if a tiger, or another predatory animal is around. They were saying that a tiger has a 'chili' spice smell to it, and other animals have other kinds of smells that they can recognize from a distance.
-They worship nature. The name gorukana- means forest god. They see themselves as completely entertwined with nature.
- Mosquitoes and leeches are common in the forest, however to these people it doesn't really bother or affect them, they know that these insects come and they go. When they bite, they bite, and they just let them be until they are finished.
- There are 5 clans (family groups comprised of maybe about 50-100 ppl per group). Men and women from different clans are allowed to marry. They only have love marriages. Once two people fall in love, the tribe sends them off to live alone in the forest for a few weeks to see if they are really compatible. So after a couple of weeks, the couple decides if they would like to get married or if they actually are not so compatible together, either outcome is accepted.
- All tribal's can readily identify each and every plant in their forest, as well as animal- including birds.
-Even the 3 year olds, can readily identify which mushrooms are edible in the forest!
-They have no caste systems, not even in modern Indian society can they be placed in a caste since their connection to modern India is that old! They do speak a similar enough language to the local language - Kannada, but different enough that it is distinguished.
I spent 3 days at this eco-resort. On the second day, the tribals put on a cultural event for us. They were so happy and proud to just be able to share a little bit of their culture with us. But actually, I felt like the truly blessed one that they were sharing their beautiful traditions with us. They began with drumming, and then slowly both the young and the older came dancing out around a bon-fire, wearing white skirts and leaves around their heads. They performed with such joy, you could just feel that their entire selves were immersed in happiness and vibrancy!
They sung absolutely beautifully! Then they welcomed all of us who were watching to come dance with them! Such a beautiful evening to be with all of them!
While we were there we also had the chance to see a few animals, and tiger footprints! We saw a giant squirrel, bison, an eagle and a lengur. Our guide was one of the people from the tribe, he has been trained as a naturalist, meaning, he has learned the english names along with scientific names of all of the plants and animals in the forest. They are so skilled at identifying everything, even the birds, they readily can identify the sounds they hear. Our guide had extremely sharp vision! I would only be seeing a dot in the distance and he would happily reply as to which bird it was. Absolutely incredible!
The accommodations were surprisingly comfortable, for being so remote, it compared if not surpassed a 5 star hotel. Also the cooks were amazing! The food was incredible and they were so accommodating towards our dietary needs. We asked for no milk, no ghee, no paneer, and little if not no oil. So suddenly they started preparing so many dishes without oil, not even a question to us as to how they should do it, they happily prepared the food and the food was amazing.
What else is special about this place is, it happened because of one person. The founder, Dr. Sudarshan over 30 years ago, made the decision to dedicate his life to a social cause. When his first interactions with the Soliga tribe began, they were a little wary of him. But he was patient with them, and was able to help them with a few modern medical needs, which allowed a trust to be built over time. Today he has set up an NGO which supports their schools and medical facilities. The system has been set up in a way that actually most of the facilities are also operated by the tribal's themselves. This enables them a necessary bridge to the modern world, which they once used to fear, but now, with more understanding and a relationship to it, they have come to see it with new eyes. They are very thankful to Dr. Sudarshan's efforts because, as the modern world grows, their home becomes more difficult to live in, so a relationship with the outside world is necessary at this point. Esp. now that the government has made it illegal to hunt in these forests among other regulations. So it's a beautiful relationship which has formed. And we have this amazing opportunity to stay at Gorukana, and to interact with people who live in a way in which the rest of us could learn a lot from.
Amazing.
http://gorukana.org/
Pictures to come.
The location is beautiful! Not only is it surrounded by nature, but what really is special about the place is the people that it this place supports, the Soliga tribe. The Soliga tribe have been living on their own in the Biligiri Rangan Hills, for hundreds of years. They are a beautiful example of people who know how to live one with nature. Most all of their food comes from the jungle. They do grow finger millet, but apart from this small organic growing operation, everything else comes from the jungle. They used to be semi-nomadic - meaning they would spend one year in a location at a time, where they would farm millet and build temporary homes, although they are also completely capable of sleeping out in the open!
I met a few people from the tribe and I felt I was only bursting with questions.
They are very sweet, genuine warm hearted people. I was about ready to move in!
They are so one with nature, let me list a few of what they had mentioned to me:
- They have a remedy for cobra snake bites, derived from plants, they learn how to stay calm
enough to not allow the poison to kill them for 2 hours, until they have access to a plant remedy.
I had read that some 95% of people who die from snake bites, actually die from shock not the poison. I mentioned this to the man I was speaking with and he believed this to be true, he said that within the tribe, they learn how to stay calm, under these circumstances.
- They have a medicinal plant for those who have jaundice, which they can heal the person in 3 days with this plant.
- They have the ability to smell if a tiger, or another predatory animal is around. They were saying that a tiger has a 'chili' spice smell to it, and other animals have other kinds of smells that they can recognize from a distance.
-They worship nature. The name gorukana- means forest god. They see themselves as completely entertwined with nature.
- Mosquitoes and leeches are common in the forest, however to these people it doesn't really bother or affect them, they know that these insects come and they go. When they bite, they bite, and they just let them be until they are finished.
- There are 5 clans (family groups comprised of maybe about 50-100 ppl per group). Men and women from different clans are allowed to marry. They only have love marriages. Once two people fall in love, the tribe sends them off to live alone in the forest for a few weeks to see if they are really compatible. So after a couple of weeks, the couple decides if they would like to get married or if they actually are not so compatible together, either outcome is accepted.
- All tribal's can readily identify each and every plant in their forest, as well as animal- including birds.
-Even the 3 year olds, can readily identify which mushrooms are edible in the forest!
-They have no caste systems, not even in modern Indian society can they be placed in a caste since their connection to modern India is that old! They do speak a similar enough language to the local language - Kannada, but different enough that it is distinguished.
I spent 3 days at this eco-resort. On the second day, the tribals put on a cultural event for us. They were so happy and proud to just be able to share a little bit of their culture with us. But actually, I felt like the truly blessed one that they were sharing their beautiful traditions with us. They began with drumming, and then slowly both the young and the older came dancing out around a bon-fire, wearing white skirts and leaves around their heads. They performed with such joy, you could just feel that their entire selves were immersed in happiness and vibrancy!
They sung absolutely beautifully! Then they welcomed all of us who were watching to come dance with them! Such a beautiful evening to be with all of them!
While we were there we also had the chance to see a few animals, and tiger footprints! We saw a giant squirrel, bison, an eagle and a lengur. Our guide was one of the people from the tribe, he has been trained as a naturalist, meaning, he has learned the english names along with scientific names of all of the plants and animals in the forest. They are so skilled at identifying everything, even the birds, they readily can identify the sounds they hear. Our guide had extremely sharp vision! I would only be seeing a dot in the distance and he would happily reply as to which bird it was. Absolutely incredible!
The accommodations were surprisingly comfortable, for being so remote, it compared if not surpassed a 5 star hotel. Also the cooks were amazing! The food was incredible and they were so accommodating towards our dietary needs. We asked for no milk, no ghee, no paneer, and little if not no oil. So suddenly they started preparing so many dishes without oil, not even a question to us as to how they should do it, they happily prepared the food and the food was amazing.
What else is special about this place is, it happened because of one person. The founder, Dr. Sudarshan over 30 years ago, made the decision to dedicate his life to a social cause. When his first interactions with the Soliga tribe began, they were a little wary of him. But he was patient with them, and was able to help them with a few modern medical needs, which allowed a trust to be built over time. Today he has set up an NGO which supports their schools and medical facilities. The system has been set up in a way that actually most of the facilities are also operated by the tribal's themselves. This enables them a necessary bridge to the modern world, which they once used to fear, but now, with more understanding and a relationship to it, they have come to see it with new eyes. They are very thankful to Dr. Sudarshan's efforts because, as the modern world grows, their home becomes more difficult to live in, so a relationship with the outside world is necessary at this point. Esp. now that the government has made it illegal to hunt in these forests among other regulations. So it's a beautiful relationship which has formed. And we have this amazing opportunity to stay at Gorukana, and to interact with people who live in a way in which the rest of us could learn a lot from.
Amazing.
http://gorukana.org/
Pictures to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment