A Konkan village empties out every four years to rejuvenate it

As part of 500-yr-old practice, villagers exit Achara for a few days to let its natural resources revive

- Niraj Pandit

MUMBAI: Achara, a village situated along the serene coastline of Malvan tehsil, in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra's Konkan region, will slowly fill up with its own people on Wednesday, after a three-day Gaavpalan or village migration.

Traditionally, every three to four years, as part of Gaavpalan, Achara, home to around 10,000 people, becomes still. Houses, schools, banks, shops and streets lie empty, and in this time (December 15 to 17, this year) the agrarian folk, who grow paddy and mango, vacate their homes along with livestock and pets, food and other essentials to settle on the periphery of the village.

Achara is left untouched and allowed to rejuvenate. Villagers believe through this 400-500-year-old practice, rooted in cultural and ecological ethos, the village's natural resources - air, water and soil - become purified. The tradition has thrived propelled by the village's famed Inamdar Shri Dev Rameshwar Sansthan Temple of Lord Shiva.

The temple's chief priest, Kapil Gurav, says the migration can begin only after the deity issues a Kaul or "divine order".

"By halting all human activity, nature gets rest. We aim to cleanse our environment and break the chain of pathogens," says Gurav.

Stone inscriptions and oral history hint at the origin of such traditions to plagues, cholera and other epidemics in India from the 14th to 19th centuries. Gurav believes the practice became ingrained as a divine mandate to ensure compliance and long-term health benefits.

"Our ancestors recognised the need to isolate themselves when epidemics struck. This self-imposed lockdown allowed the environment to recover while reducing the spread of illnesses," Gurav says. "People are more likely to follow rules when they believe it's a command from God. Therefore, our ancestors framed the practice as a divine order."