As I stood watching the overwhelming rush of people gathere d for religious rituals in many temples, what struck me most was not devotion, but the silent suffering hidden beneath the noise – the rows of goats waiting to be sacrificed in the name of faith, their lives valued not as sentient beings but as symbols of offerings. The scene felt less like worship and more like a marketplace where emotions, beliefs, and animal lives were traded. The eyes of those innocent animals seemed to ask a question many of us avoid – does God truly require blood to bless us, or have we mistaken tradition for spirituality? During festive season, what should be a moment of inner reflection, gratitude, and spiritual discipline often turns into a noisy display of power, wealth, and status.
The huge crowds, endless loudspeakers, expensive decorations, and long queues of people desperately waiting for blessings make us question whether faith is being practiced – or traded. Vendors, pandal committees, and event organizers earn enormous amounts of money in the name of the goddess, while the original meaning of worship – compassion, simplicity, self-discipline, and reverence – slowly fades into the background. For thousands of years, the worship of an invisible god often receives more preference than the worship of nature – the visible and tangible source of life. The idea of an invisible god offers mystery, fear, hope, and the promise of something beyond ordinary human existence.
People find comfort in believing that there is a powerful, unseen force controlling fate, justice, protection, punishment, and life after death – concepts that visible nature does not directly offer. Nature is the first teacher, provider, and protector: it gives us water to drink, food to eat, air to breathe, soil to grow crops, and ecosystems that sustain every form of life. It does not speak, judge, or reward in the way religious beliefs interpret a supernatural god. Additionally, organized religions have played a major role in shaping societies, culture, rituals, and moral systems, creating a sense of identity that goes beyond physical reality. Over time, nature was once worshipped by early civilizations because survival depended on respecting natural cycles.
Rivers were goddesses, trees were living spirits, mountains were temples, and animals were companions – not commodities. That gradually lost significance because human beings became more disconnected from the natural world through urbanization, technology, and structured belief systems. Now, instead of protecting this divine creation, we destroy parts of it to prove our faith. To me, religious gatherings have always represented unity, shared beliefs, and collective devotion – but I also feel there is a beautiful opportunity to bring these gatherings closer to the worship of nature, which is also God’s creation. Instead of focusing solely on rituals like animal sacrifice, we could slowly introduce practices that honour life and support the environment.
For example, the same devotion people express through offerings could be redirected toward planting trees, feeding the hungry, protecting animals, Improving the education system, conserving water, or cleaning the surroundings before and after the festival. The energy, enthusiasm, and togetherness seen in religious celebrations could become a powerful force for environmental care. Our lives depend entirely on nature. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the wood and bricks that build our shelter – all come from nature’s generous hands. Yet, while we take so much, we often forget to give back. If nature provides us with crops, cotton, animals, water, and oxygen, then protecting forests, conserving soil, reducing cruelty, planting trees, and using resources wisely becomes a sacred duty. Just as we maintain a temple with respect, the earth too deserves care and reverence, because it is the very source of our survival. When we align our religious values with environmental responsibility, we strengthen the bond between faith and life – reminding ourselves that true devotion is not only prayer, but also the conscious act of giving back to the nature that sustains us.
Nature proves its existence every day through sunlight, rain, wind, mountains, rivers, forests, and the breath we take without thinking. Worshipping nature teaches humility, interconnectedness, gratitude, responsibility, and harmony rather than fear, blind obedience, or ritualistic duty. At a time when the environment is suffering, species are disappearing, and climate change threatens humanity, honouring nature is not just a spiritual choice but a moral necessity. If we truly worship nature, we must protect forests instead of cutting them for greed, because forests purify the air, protect soil, maintain rainfall, and shelter countless species. Instead of polluting rivers with chemicals, plastics, and ritual waste, we should treat rivers as sacred lifelines – by reducing waste, avoiding harmful detergents, creating waste-treatment facilities, and restoring native vegetation along riverbanks.
Worshipping nature also means respecting animals-not merely avoiding cruelty, but protecting their habitats, preventing illegal hunting, and supporting ethical and sustainable farming. Caring for nature can be as simple as planting a tree, growing vegetables in one’s garden, practicing rainwater harvesting, reducing plastic use, composting household waste, or cycling instead of driving short distances. Schools and communities can create butterfly gardens, seed banks, rooftop gardens, and sacred groves – just as ancient cultures did as act of devotion. Even urban areas can honour nature by creating parks, wetlands, and green corridors so birds, insects, and animals can coexist with humans. When we nourish the soil, conserve water, protect wildlife, and grow more greenery, we do not just offer worship – we repair the damage caused by human neglect. So, the goal is not to stop using nature, because survival depends on it; the goal is to use nature with respect, balance, and responsibility. If we treat nature like a partner rather than a resource to exploit, we ensure that future generations will also have food to eat, air to breathe, clean water to drink, and a healthy planet to live on.
(The writer is former Senior Scientist, Central Pollution Control Board.)