Photo Credit: Internet
Clear Cut Climate Desk
New Delhi, UPDATED: Oct 24, 2025 05:42 IST
Written By: Janmojaya Barik
Every Diwali, as the rest of India lights up the sky with crackling fireworks, a few villages in Tamil Nadu choose a different path. Around the Vadamugam Vellode Bird Sanctuary in Erode district, seven villages have kept alive a two-decade-old promise. They celebrate Diwali without bursting crackers or creating loud noise, to protect the migratory birds that nest in their wetlands every winter.
In a time when celebration is synonymous with excess, this decision for quietness is an act of consciousness. It rests not on any formal mandate but on shared conscience. The tale of these villages is an exemplar of what environmental stewardship can be like when it develops organically in a group.
The Beginning of a Tradition
The concept of a “Silent Diwali” originated in 2002 when farmers in the area realized that the migratory bird population visiting the Vellode wetland was declining. The 77-acre wetland, subsequently, was recognized as a Ramsar site in 2022. During Diwali, the deafening sound and the intense flashes of firecrackers frightened away the nesting birds. A large number of birds fled before the breeding season was over.
The villagers of Sellappampalayam, Semmandampalayam, Pungampadi, and Vadamugam Vellode had a meeting of the minds among their elders and decided they would not explode crackers on Diwali any more. They met, spoke with forest officials, and persuaded families that silence would be safe for their avian visitors. What started in a few hundred families gradually became a tradition of more than 900 families in seven villages.
The oath was never put to paper or made the law. It became a habit. Each year, parents remind their kids that crackers can provide fleeting excitement but ruin weeks of nesting and calm for hundreds of birds. The message has been passed from generation to generation, and it sticks.
A Living Example of Coexistence
The Vadamugam Vellode Bird Sanctuary is one of the busiest bird habitats in Tamil Nadu, which has an estimated 120 species of resident and migratory birds. Thousands of birds including pelicans, painted storks, teals, and bar-headed geese fly in annually from distant locations like Siberia and New Zealand during the period between October and February. The wetland for these birds is not only a resting point but a breeding ground as well.
The villagers proudly boast of this affiliation. Panchayats of the villages erect notice boards announcing the villages as “Silent Zones” on Diwali. Schools organize awareness campaigns, and forest officials are known to visit people to express their gratitude for preserving the tradition. In national newspaper interviews, villagers have commented that when others celebrate noise, they celebrate nature.
The Tamil Nadu Forest Department assists the effort with minor eco-awareness campaigns, but it is the people themselves who deserve the credit. That they would cooperate without enforcement is a testament that environmentalism can be effective if it starts from empathy instead of regulation.
The Broader Message
What is so remarkable about this tale is the subdued power. These villages teach us that protection of the environment does not always require big campaigns or international summits. It can start from little, routine decisions by common people. When children here decline to burst crackers, they are not only saving birds but are also inhaling fresher air.
In a world where India’s big cities choke on intensive post-Diwali pollution and when northern India’s air quality indexes go over 400, the quiet of Erode’s villages provides a different picture of celebration. It is evidence that festival celebrations do not have to destroy the earth in order to retain their joy. The people there have demonstrated that bliss can also result from protecting life, not disrupting it.
