Temples in India have long stood as centres of tradition, faith, and community. But in an age of environmental urgency, these sacred spaces are now being seen through a new lens—as potential leaders in sustainability and ecological responsibility. Helping shape this evolving narrative is Mr. Giresh Kulkarni, Founder of Temple Connect and the visionary behind the International Temples Convention & Expo (ITCX).
Mr. Kulkarni, recently recognised as a Global Thought Leader 2025 at Cambridge University, has been instrumental in modernising temple ecosystems—merging spiritual practice with sustainability, access, and innovation. From initiating university collaborations for temple management education to overseeing sustainability efforts at landmark events like the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha, his work has sparked conversations across religious and civic institutions.
In this article, Mr. Kulkarni discusses how temples can emerge as models of environmental stewardship through eco-conscious infrastructure, solar-powered kitchens, organic temple-run farms, waste-to-energy systems, and sustainable devotional practices—blending sacred traditions with modern environmental action.
Read the complete article below for more insights.
Elevating Sacred Spaces: A Blueprint on Sustainability and Waste Management in Temples
Temples, being institutions of belief, tradition, and culture, are also centers of spirituality that shape the soul of our communities. They hold immense potential for advocating environmental stewardship by nurturing a harmonious connection between spirituality and the natural world. Sustainability and waste management in temples is not merely a passing trend but a vital step toward environmental protection and resource recovery. By implementing green principles into their religious rituals, teachings, and everyday operations, temples can align faith with environmental responsibility – thus, building long-lasting impacts for both visitors and our planet.
Eco-conscious Temple Construction
Temple management bodies, with visionary leadership and institutional partnerships, can join hands with architecture colleges or environmental institutes to equip local craftsmen and temple management bodies with knowledge in eco-conscious infrastructure and maintenance. This ensures that traditional craftsmanship adapts to modern green methods.
This can be achieved by incorporating natural materials, which significantly lowers the ecological footprint in spiritual-religious projects. Moreover, shifting from traditional energy sources to solar power, and setting up rainwater harvesting systems addresses water demands in an environmentally responsible manner. Even green rooftops help purify the air. All such measures not only safeguard resources but also lessen environmental damage and promote long-term sustainability.
Promoting Eco-friendly Temple Kitchens
Several leading temples are now reimagining their kitchens as green energy hubs, using solar-powered cooking and waste-to-biogas systems. Food waste can be converted into compost or harnessed through biogas setups to fuel kitchen operations or lighting systems. Besides, using organically grown produce sourced from local farmers, reduces emissions from long-haul logistics while empowering local economies.
Sustainable Temple Merchandise
In order to promote mindful worship, temples can replace spiritual artefacts, souvenirs, and devotional accessories with eco-friendly merchandise like reusable cloth bags, clay lamps, eco-mementos, organic incense sticks and much more. To lessen environmental degradation, temples can also adopt biodegradable packaging or switch to glass or recycled plastic.
Temple-Run Organic Farms
Temples with land resources can develop organic farms that supply vegetables and fruits for prasadam or annadaan. This not only encourages chemical-free farming but provides employment to locals and establishes a model of self-sustained devotion. In addition, waste generated from offerings like flowers, oil, incense sticks, and other related materials used for the rituals can be methodically gathered in designated collection zones. It may thereafter be processed for recycling, converting residual materials into eco-friendly products such as organic fertilisers, which can be used in these organic farms.
Encouraging Green Transportation
While visiting sacred sites, visitors should be encouraged to use bicycles or electric rickshaws. Temples can also tie up with EV (electric vehicle) transport providers to offer shuttle options. This, in turn, can help reduce traffic and also pollution during peak hours or festival gatherings.
Eco-Certification for Temples
Building or adopting an eco-certification system for temples—can work towards standardizing sustainability practices. When temple grounds transform into plastic-free space and embrace practices like energy and water conservation, managing waste effectively and other green initiatives, this eco-certification procedure can also act as a blueprint for other spiritual centres to follow suit.
Carbon Footprint Audits
Temples can periodically conduct carbon footprint assessments of their operations — from lighting to food distribution and transportation. Such audits help identify high-impact zones and guide strategic sustainability actions. To curb the carbon footprint, temple authorities can equip the premises with solar-powered installations, LEDs, motion-sensor lighting, and compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) - enhancing energy efficiency.
Sacred Groves and Biodiversity Zones
Holy shrines can even reserve land around their premises to create ‘sacred groves’—like planting native trees, medicinal herbs, or flowering plants that attract bees, butterflies, and birds. All these biodiversity pockets not only provide educational value but also bring back old-age traditions of nature worship - thus promoting harmony with the natural surroundings.
Digital Devotional Engagement
Holy sites should try to introduce live-streaming of aartis, darshans, and spiritual discourses to cut down on large gatherings, especially during festivals. This not only reduces disposal of waste but also offers inclusive access to those unable to travel. Apart from that, E-tickets for temple visits, digital boards for announcements, and online donation systems can significantly cut down on paper usage.
Eco-smart Design with Modern Sanitation Upgrades
Upgrading drainage, toilets, and bathing ghats with eco-sanitation systems like bio-toilets and greywater recycling, enhances your hygiene while improving waste control measures.
Spreading the Green Message
Temples can organise workshops, educational sessions and seminars, curate eco-themed events, or involve communities in sustainability programs, such as tree plantation, local clean-ups or even awareness campaigns. All these efforts also encourage visitors to adopt green habits in their lives.
With growing environmental challenges today, the role of temples as ecological stewards becomes even more vital. So, preserving cultural roots and upholding traditions while embracing innovation, the sacred spaces can drive meaningful impact on the eco-system.
Building a connection between ecological conservation and spiritual ethos through targeted initiatives, temples can safeguard the environment for upcoming generations. Together, we can transform our temples into not just spiritual heavens but also models of environmental responsibility - forging a cleaner and greener future where spirituality and the environment can coexist.
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