Dang villagers have immense faith in invisible tiger god

  • | Thursday | 22nd February, 2018

Waghai (Dang): Sixty-five-year-old Savaji Gavit, a resident of Vaghmal village in Dang district, had sighted a white tiger near his village when he was young. Every village entrance in the hilly northern terrain of Dang has sign marks on stones that show tiger as god. Tiger in Gujarat was last sighted in the Dang district in 1993-94. Forest department records show that tiger had been sighted in this forest last in mid-1990s. Some researchers had recently claimed that they were sure of the presence of a few tigers in the Dang, but the forest department officials are not certain.

Waghai (Dang): Sixty-five-year-old Savaji Gavit, a resident of Vaghmal village in Dang district, had sighted a white tiger near his village when he was young. However, now there are no big ‘baaghs’ in the area, only small ones that wait on the trees for the prey to emerge, he says.Gavit and also 5,000 people of his village never go anywhere without paying their respects to sign mark of the tiger encircled by that of peacock, snake, sun and moon on stones made by their forefathers. Every village entrance in the hilly northern terrain of Dang has sign marks on stones that show tiger as god. Surprisingly, people of Vansda taluka in Navsari district pray to images of leopard made on stones, which for them is ‘baagh devta’.Former member of Vaghmal village panchayat Anand Surja Gavit said, “These sign marks are of our jungle gods. They live with us and help us grow in life. We are able to see moon, sun, peacock and snakes, but tiger god has become invisible.”The 1,770 sq km area of the Dang forest in Sahyadri mountain range had been a natural habitat of tigers, leopards and other wild animals. Forest department records show that tiger had been sighted in this forest last in mid-1990s. Tiger in Gujarat was last sighted in the Dang district in 1993-94. Some researchers had recently claimed that they were sure of the presence of a few tigers in the Dang, but the forest department officials are not certain. “Yes, some signs of tigers had been noticed in this area, but it can’t be said that they are a recent phenomenon. There is a question mark on the presence of tigers in the Dang,” a forest officer said.Former deputy conservator of forests, Valsad, S K Damor said, “Disappearance of continuous forest cover from a big area of the Dang led to extinction of tigers here. Human disturbance has taken its toll on this big cat in this area.”

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