India’s religious geography is inseparable from its ecological one. Across the country,sacred groves, shrines, caves and pilgrimage routes are located within or adjacent toprotected areas, often in ecologically sensitive habitats. For centuries, belief systemshelped regulate access and behaviour, enabling coexistence with nature. Today,however, rising visitor numbers and the growing commercialisation of pilgrimageroutes are placing unprecedented pressure on forest ecosystems. What were onceseasonal, community-embedded rituals have become forms of mass tourism, bringingin infrastructure that fragile ecosystems cannot absorb. The challenge before policymakers now is how this intersection between faith and conservation can begoverned without undermining ecological integrity or the rights of forest-dwellingcommunities.