By Huned Contractor

Sanjay Barnela's Devta Activists explores the traditions of conservation promoted by the deities of the Kulu valley and how these traditions are losing ground to state-sponsored 'development'

One against the other -- that's how the equation stands in the Kulu valley where local residents, especially pastoralists and herb-collectors, have found themselves pitted against the might of the central government. It's easy to see who is the stronger of the two. While the government has at its beck and call the entire administrative and financial muscle that it has been entrusted with in the name of 'development', the villagers have nothing more than their faith in god. But, as the documentary Devta Activists, directed by Sanjay Barnela of Delhi shows, there is a god, or a group of them, who might just decide to reveal some real power in retaliation.

Devta Activists is an exploration of the role of traditional deities (devtas) of the Kulu valley in Himachal Pradesh, in the conservation of and fight for access to forest resources. It's a study of how local traditions negotiate contemporary discourses on scientific conservation and national development. By acceding control over natural resources to the devtas, several informal conservation practices by local communities in the valley have been constituted over time.

Today, these practices find their authority threatened because of the presence of two looming symbols of modernity in the area -- the Great Himalayan National Park and the Parvati Hydro-Electric Project; the former represents the scientific principles of exclusionary conservation, and the latter completely demolishes any principles of environmental conservation.

The film explores the devta tradition, its relationship with conservation, and the implications of these modern initiatives vis-à-vis local conservation practices.

The question that arises is: who is right? Should traditional wisdom and faith be discarded as obstacles in the face of development? Is it that traditional wisdom that ensured that environmental destruction did not take place until recently?

Barnela makes his stand clear. As he and his team mingle with the villagers, herb-collectors and pastoralists who move up to the lofty peaks in search of fodder for their animals, it becomes apparent that a grave injustice is being done to the original inhabitants of the valley in the name of 'development'.

"When the government declared an area of 755 sq km as a national park, they should have included the locals in the planning and continued to provide them access. Instead, these people are now finding themselves banned from the very areas that have provided them a livelihood. Their existence itself is at stake because the concerned authorities and agencies have not deemed it important to create alternatives for them," Barnela says.

The enchanting part of Devta Activists is that it brings into focus the role of the gur who is the essential link between the gods and the common people. The opinions, suggestions and criticism of the gods are communicated through the gurs who go into a trance each time a ceremony is conducted. These ceremonies normally precede the seasonal cycles of grazing, agriculture and herb-collection. "The devtas have never been wrong and their instructions have always been in favour of environmental protection and conservation," says a villager.

The devtas may know their mind, but the government does not. "That's because there has been a lot of double talk. On the one hand, a national park is set up to allegedly protect rare species of plants and trees, and on the other hand, 300 dams are being built across Himachal Pradesh, destroying the flora and fauna," Barnela points out.

For Barnela, the Kulu region is a second home. "I have been trekking through the hills and plains for the past 25 years and identify with the concerns and issues of the villagers," he says. His earlier films have also been based in Himachal Pradesh, dealing with subjects like the politics of water and the conflicts that arise out of natural and man-made disasters.

Making Devta Activists was, however, a big challenge. "That," Barnela explains, "was due to the fact that the villagers did not want us to shoot the trance sessions of the gurs . Also, lugging equipment through high-altitude areas was a problem. There were no communication facilities and we just had to hope that we would get the kind of footage we were looking for."

Next on the cards is a film that will deal with the concept of eco-tourism and how it is being misused. "Eco-tourism has come to have multiple definitions and allows anyone to set up a resort in the environmentally sensitive areas of Nainital and Shimla. We need to get the real story," Barnela says.

Meanwhile, the resistance movement in Manali is building up and Barnela, for one, is hoping that the gods will have the final word this time around.

Sanjay Barnela can be contacted via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

(Huned Contractor is a freelance journalist and filmmaker based in Pune) 

InfoChange News & Features, March 2007