Sacred Grove Chapter I
THE MIDNIGHT GATHERING RITUAL
When the hot spring winds sweep across the tiger reserves of Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the forest canopy transforms. At dusk, the Mahua trees release an intoxicating sweet fragrance reminiscent of ripe peaches, cardamom, and warm acacia honey.
Under the midnight moonlight, millions of succulent yellow petals loosen from their stems and fall silently onto swept earthen mats. Tribal families light small fires of aromatic sal wood to keep forest wildlife at bay while singing ancestral songs of gratitude to Kalo Devta, the forest deity.
