Bio-Diversity and Cultural Aspects of Mahendragiri, in ... - Vasundhara

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The Eastern Ghats, EPTRI - ENVIS Newsletterdistinguishes the other floristic habitat of Odishafrom Mahendragiri in terms of ecological factors(Table 1).Table 1: Mountain peaks of MahendragiriName Relative Location Altitude(mts)Singaraz North of Mahendragiri 1,516Mahendra- North-East of Kainpur 1,501giriDevagiri South of Gumma 1,382Badadeba East of Ramagiri-Udaygiri 1,364Idongiri/ West of Mahendragiri 1,323IndragiriLuaba South-East of R. Udayagiri 1,260Seranga North of Seranga 1,150Gumma South-East of Gumma 1,094Figure-1: Location of Mahendragiri in Eastern Ghatsof IndiaVol.18, No.1, 2012Previous floristic accounts of Mahendragiri hillcomplex:The first floristic account of Mahendragiri wasdealt by Gamble (1915-35) in 1892 who is known asthe pioneer researcher to document the flora.Subsequently Mukharjee (1935); Kapoor (1964);Bramham and Saxena, 1981, 1984; Paul et al.,1980; Panda and Tripathy (1993) had botanised thehill. Similarly Saxena and Brahmam (1994)enumerated the floristic account of mahendrgirihills in the book Flora of Orissa. However Kapoordescribed only 2 species of orchids from thisregion. Later Mishra (1983, 1993) and Panda et al.(2010) represented 36 species of Orchids fromMahendragiri.Results and discussion:Sacred Sites of Mahendragiri:Mahendragiri is the foremost of the seven“Kulagiris” or principal mountains of India. It hasbeen referred to in ancient literature, accounts andepigraphy. It finds mention in the works of poetsKalidas and Oriya poets Sarala Das and RadhanathRay. The archaeological structures here, includingthe Bhima, Yudistir and Kunti temples, which enjoythe status of protected monuments under theAntiquate Monument Archaeological Remains andSites Act 1958, are also under threat. These templesare believed to have been established between thefourth and the 10th century AD. All the temples arenamed after the Pandavas and their mother Kunti.Oriya Mahabharata author Sarala Das attributes theestablishment of the Gokarnesvara Sivalinga toP a n d a v a s , w h o a r e s a i d t o h a v e v i s i t e dMahendragiri during their exile. The Kunti templeis 30-ft high and is at one end of the flat top of thehill. The temple has been plastered with lime afterthorough repairs. The “parsvadevatas” includeGanesha, Kartikeya and Pravati. The “nabagrahas”are placed on the lintel over the door jambs. Twoinscriptions that may be paleographically placed inthe 12th century are found here.Landscape of Mahendragiri hills4The Yudhisthira temple that rises abruptly from theground level is in the “Triratha” style and is on theother side of the hill's flat top. The outer walls aredevoid of any sculptural decoration excepting fourChaitya arches. There is no “parsvadevata” here.The lintel of the door contains an inscription of theChola dynasty.The Bhima temple is assumed byscholars to have been built just after the Guptaperiod and appears to be the oldest of these temples.
The Eastern Ghats, EPTRI - ENVIS NewsletterIt is made of five huge square blocks of stones andhas a low and squat tower, square sanctum, squat“sikhara” and flat roof. The doorway is narrowand the walls do not have any niche. This temple isoften regarded as the Gokarnesvara temple of theplace. Apart from these big temples, there are fewsmall statues of Lord Hanuman and lord Parsuramin the hill top where the shola forest exists. Saorasare the main tribe in these hill forests, but theycome under vulnerable tribal group (prmitivetribal group) which are protecting the forest sincemany decades and deriving the eosystem servicesprovided by the hills. More than 2,000 people visitMahendragiri every year. But since most of themcome for a short visit, elaborate accommodationfacilities are not available.Vol.18, No.1, 2012Vegetation: Mahendragiri comes under the Deccanregion of Hooker's (1904) nine botanical provinces ofBritish India. Gamble and Fisher (1915-35), whilerecognizing five floristic divisions of MadrasPresidency, placed mahendragiri in their Sal region.According to Champion and Seth (1968), the forestsof Mahendragiri fall under tropical moist deciduoustype. The foot hills of the hill range covered with drydeciduous forests. On gaining height, this graduallychanges to tropical moist deciduous forests, which ispredominant in larger areas of the hills. The uppervalleys come under tropical semi-evergreen forestsmixed with tropical evergreen forests in smallpockets. Hence Mahendragiri fall mainly under (a)Sal forests (b) tropical moist deciduous, (c) tropicaldry deciduous, (d) semi-evergreen (e) Grasslands,and (f) scrub forests. The forests are also subdividedin to Sal forests, semi-evergreen forests, Grasslandsand scrubs.Sal forests: Sal occurs in different plant communitiesin different frequency. Sal forests which occur incontinuation with the semi-evergreen type or close tothe moist valleys are classified as tropical moistdeciduous forests. The top storey in these forestsconsists of predominantly deciduous species whereas the socond storey has some evergreens. Commonassociates are Pteocarpus marsupium, Terminaliaspp., Haldinia cordifolia, Madhuca indica etc. Theshrub layer consists of etc. The dominant climbers areBauhinia vahlii, Ardisia solanacea, Barleriastrigosa, Eranthemum pulchellum Cayratia carnosa,Cissus adnata, Cissus repens, Diascorea spp. andSmilax macrophylla etc. The ground flora consists ofAndrographis paniculata, Dicliptera bupleuroides,Justisia simplex and many species of commelinaceae,Zingiberaceae and poaceae.When the conditions are hot and dry, sal is of poorquality and the forests may be called as tropical drydeciduous type. The important associates of Sal areAnogeissus latifolia, Diospyros melanoxylon,Dendrocalamus strictus, Mallotus philippensis etc.The shrub layers consist of Cleistanthus collinus,Zigiphus spp., and Carissa spp. The climbers includeAcacia spp., Cayratia auriculata, Ampelocissustomentosa, Ventilago madraspatana and Combretumroxburghianum.Moist deciduous forests: Bellow the ridge on steepslopes the mixed forests are found which are dividedin to dry and moist deciduous forests as per thespecies composition and period of leaf falls. Theimportant constituent species are Terminalia5
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