Assam's Nagshankar becomes model temple for turtle conservation

The Hindu

24-05-2025

Nagshankar, in northeastern Assam's Biswanath district, has been designated a model temple for turtle conservation.
Local MLA Padma Hazarika acknowledged the temple on behalf of the local authorities and communities at an event on its premises to mark World Turtle Day on Friday (May 23, 2025). The event was organised by the Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve, Assam State Zoo, Nagshankar Temple Committee, DBT-NER Biotech Hub Chaiduar College, and conservation groups Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA) Foundation India, Aaranyak, and Help Earth.
Turtles have traditionally been conserved in several temple ponds of Assam as they are believed to be a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu. The turtles in the Nagshankar temple complex, cared for by the TSA, are among the best conserved in the State.
'Nagshankar's role in promoting conservation of turtles at the grassroots level makes it a model temple in this regard,' Mr. Hazarika said.
Apart from spiritual songs dedicated to turtle conservation, the event featured the release of a freshwater turtle identification brochure for the common people and the acknowledgement of 'Kaso Mitras', or community turtle guardians, for their contributions.
'Turtles are called vultures of the aquatic ecosystem, as they help in keeping the water clean by scavenging on dead and decomposed matter. This is why it is very important to save them,' Anjali Das, the president of Kaso Sakhi, a grassroots women's weavers' group making turtle motif handloom products, said.
TSA Foundation India supports this weavers' group.
The Nagshankar turtle conservation project sustains 13 species of freshwater turtles. These are the black softshell (Nilssonia nigricans), Indian softshell (Nilssonia gangetica), peacock softshell (Nilssonia hurum), Indian narrow-head softshell (Chitra indica), Indian flapshell (Lisemmys punctata), spotted pond (Geoclemys hamiltonii), Assam roofed (Pangshura sylhetensis), Indian tent (Pangshura tentoria), Indian roofed (Pangshura tecta), brown roofed (Pangshura smithii), Assam leaf (Cyclemys gemeli), tricarinate hill (Melanochelys tricarinata), and Indian black (Melanochelys trijuga) turtle.
The black softshell and Assam roofed are critically endangered; the Indian softshell, peacock softshell, Indian narrow-headed softshell, spotted pond, tricarinate hill are endangered; the Indian flapshell and Indian roofed are vulnerable; the brown roofed and Assam leaf are near-threatened; and the Indian tent and Indian black turtle are of least concern, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.