Eco-Mystic Literary Tourism: India

Eco-mysticism, as an interdisciplinary field that combines environmental ethics, spiritual philosophy, and literature, has gained significant traction in recent years. This approach goes beyond the conventional environmentalism that tends to focus solely on human-environmental relationships; it posits nature as a sentient, sacred entity that carries profound spiritual meaning. Initially introduced by Anderson (1996), the concept of eco-mysticism has evolved through various scholarly contributions, like Von Essen (2018), positioning nature not only as a physical space to be preserved but as a metaphysical force influencing human existence. Scholars like Buell (2005) have argued that true environmental literature must not merely reflect ecological issues but also convey a moral and ethical consideration of human actions within natural settings. Eco-mystic literary tourism refers to a specialised form of literary travel in which visitors engage with natural landscapes that are not only ecologically significant but also imbued with mystical or spiritual meaning through literary narratives. This mode of tourism bridges environmental awareness with a search for the sacred, often through texts that depict nature as animate, enchanted, or transcendent.

One of the most evocative Indian contributions to this form of tourism is found in the legacy of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay, whose writings from the 1920s and 1930s reflect a profound ecological and mystical engagement with the forested landscapes of Ghatsila in the state of Jharkhand, India. Bandyopadhyay’s narratives, particularly in works such as Aranyak, articulate a lyrical and almost reverential connection to the jungle, portraying it as a space of solitude, sensory wonder, and spiritual clarity. As Chakravarty (2003) observes, while romantic travel literature took root relatively late in Bangla writing, with only sporadic explorations by figures like Rabindranath Tagore, it was Bandyopadhyay who consistently fused empirical journeys with imaginative geographies. Bandyopadhyay’s visits to Ghatsila shaped a body of work where the real and the visionary seamlessly coalesce (Chakravarty, 2003). Ghatsila is not merely a geographic location but a cultural and ecological landmark. The town’s pristine forests and the Subarnarekha River are integral to Bandyopadhyay’s literature, influencing his depictions of the mystical bond between humans and nature. The eco-mystic character of this landscape aligns with the broader scholarly discourse on the spiritual significance of nature as described by Von Essen (2018).

One of the most significant literary sites in Ghatsila is Gourikunja, the residence of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay. Visitors often make a pilgrimage to this historic home, where the writer lived and drew inspiration for his works. Walking through Gourikunja, one can sense the deep connection between the physical space and the literary imagination that flourished within it. Additionally, the Fuldungri Forest, with its rolling hills and dense foliage, exemplifies the ecological and mystical ambience that pervades Bandyopadhyay’s writings. The forest, with its rugged terrain, dense canopy, and tranquil atmosphere, is not just a setting for his narratives but a spiritual entity in itself. It represents the primal, untouched force of nature that nurtures and challenges human existence, mirroring the struggles and transformations of his characters. Visitors to Fuldungri can explore this forest through eco-literary trails that allow them to experience the environment as Bandyopadhyay did, fostering a deeper connection between literature and the landscape.

The Fuldungri forest, along with other nearby green expanses, offers a unique opportunity for eco-literary enthusiasts to immerse themselves in the same landscapes that shaped Aranyak and other literary masterpieces. Aranyak, one of his most famous novels, is both a literary exploration and a philosophical manifesto about the loss of innocence in the face of human encroachment upon the wilderness. The protagonist, an anthropologist, journeys into the forests of Ghatsila and undergoes a profound transformation. His initial perception of nature as a resource to be exploited gives way to a spiritual awakening, recognizing the forests as a living, sentient force imbued with sacred significance. This shift in perspective aligns with Buell’s (2005) assertion that literature should emphasise human-nature interconnectedness, illustrating the ethical dilemma posed by environmental destruction. Ecopoetic representation, as articulated by Buell (2005), is another critical aspect of eco-mysticism in literature. In ecopoetic works, nature is not a mere backdrop to human action but an active participant in the unfolding narrative. Such representations elevate the natural world to a character in its own right, with agency and influence over the events and experiences depicted. In another groundbreaking work of Bibhutibhushan, named Pather Panchali, nature is not simply a backdrop but an active participant in the characters’ lives. The seasonal cycles, the river, and the groves of trees carry deep symbolic weight, influencing the characters’ emotions, actions, and spiritual growth.

Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s literary contributions extend beyond storytelling; they serve as a bridge between ecological consciousness and spiritual enlightenment. His portrayal of nature as an active, sentient force aligns with the principles of eco-mysticism, positioning his works as essential texts in both literary and environmental studies. While the legacy of Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay in Ghatsila offers a deeply resonant instance of eco-mystic literary tourism, it is by no means singular. Eco-mystic literary tourism is introduced through Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s forested Ghatsila, before mapping a wider constellation of Indian literary geographies – where natural settings are animated by cultural memory, moral imagination, and spiritual perception – has quietly coalesced into an underexplored terrain of eco-mystic literary engagement. These sites are not merely birthplaces or writing retreats; they are what Edward Casey calls “thick places” (Casey, 2011), where physical landscape is entwined with narrative sediment and symbolic meaning. The forested solitude of Ghatsila, captured in Aranyak, is mirrored by the riverine quietude of Deulti in the Howrah district of West Bengal, where Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, a Bengali novelist and short-story writer, lived and wrote. In both cases, the landscape is not a passive backdrop but a contemplative force shaping the ethical and emotional arcs of the authors’ protagonists. Deulti, by the Rupnarayan, becomes a site where visitors do not just remember the author but intuit the sacred texture of ordinary life he so reverently described.

Similarly, Phulia, a village in the Nadia district in West Bengal, commemorates Mahakavi Krittibas Ojha, a medieval Bengali poet, whose 15th-century Bengali translation of the Hindu epic Rāmāyaṇa into Śrīrām Pā̃cālī or Krittivasi Ramayan reconfigured a transregional myth into a site-bound devotional geography. In doing so, it anchored cosmic time in a regional ecology – one now honoured through a modest museum and continuing cultural rites.

Abanindranath Tagore, pioneer of the Bengal School of art and Bengali children’s fiction, infused his works with eco-literary mysticism, where forests, rivers, and skies became sentient symbols of resistance and wonder. His ancestral garden house in Konnagar, by the Hooghly River in West Bengal, shaped this vision – an Edenic childhood space of animals, prayer, and nature’s rhythms. After his father’s death, this world was lost as he had to shift to the city, but in works like Rajkahini and Buro Angla, it resurfaces as a sacred imaginary. Today, the restored Konnagar garden house stands as a living landscape where memory, nature, and story remain intimately entwined. His uncle, Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel laureate and philosopher-poet, envisioned Shantiniketan, an experimental school and cultural haven in Bolpur, West Bengal, as the most emblematic eco-spiritual site, embodying a Upanishadic ethos where trees were classrooms, seasons formed the curriculum, and learning was communion with the Earth. His iconic Bengali primer Sahaj Path reflects this worldview, nurturing a child’s poetic and reverent bond with nature. More than a language text, it invites readers into a meditative consciousness where the natural world is alive, symbolic, and morally instructive, making Shantiniketan a living site of sacred ecology and eco-mystic literary tourism. In northern India, Ruskin Bond’s Mussoorie and Landour in Uttarakhand comprise perhaps the most recognized landscape of Indian eco-mystic literary tourism.

Here, Himalayan forests are not grandiose or sublime in the colonial sense; they are intimate, nurturing presences. Together, these diverse literary geographies – from Bibhutibhushan Bandyopadhyay’s forests of Ghatsila and Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s riverine quietude in Deulti, to Abanindranath Tagore’s Edenic childhood in Konnagar, Rabindranath Tagore’s Upanishadic Shantiniketan, Krittibas Ojha’s devotional ecology in Phulia, and Ruskin Bond’s mist-laced hills – map a quietly potent cartography of eco-mystic literary tourism in India. Across regions and centuries, these sites reveal how nature is not merely a backdrop but a sentient presence, shaping imagination, ethical reflection, and cultural memory. What unites them is a shared reverence for the nonhuman world – not as passive scenery, but as spiritual interlocutor, moral teacher, and narrative companion. In an age of ecological rupture and cultural forgetting, eco-mystic literary tourism offers not nostalgia or escape, but return – to reverence, to listening, and to reading the Earth as sacred text.

How to cite this dictionary entry: Hajra, V. (2025). Eco-Mystic Literary Tourism: India. In R. Baleiro, G. Capecchi & J. Arcos-Pumarola (Orgs.), E-Dictionary of Literary Tourism. University for Foreigners of Perugia. https://doi.org/10.34623/zdg2-hn59