By Sangeeta Waldron
India is known for its rich spiritual heritage, and magnificent temples. In fact, it would not be wrong to describe it as the land of temples, where according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, there are an estimated two million or more temples found across the country. Temples, known as mandirs in Hindi are significant sacredspaces designed to amplify energy and aid spiritual transformation. They are landmarks where ancient arts; community celebrations and the economy have flourished, and today arestill vital community hubs for culture, education, and social gatherings, working as living repositories of art, history, and ancient architecture.
Temples across India witness millions of devotees daily, making these areas not only centres of faith but also high-impact consumption zones, which has led to increasing concerns around plastic waste generation in and around temple premises.
It’s this growing plastic waste, which has become a huge pollution problem for India. We know that carbon emissions are on the rise, climate change is accelerating, and now microplastics are infiltrating our bodies. This challenge is now encroaching on India’s places of worship and is whyBlueprint Water and Temple Connect have come together. They are committed to addressing this critical issue of plastic pollution. Together they will help to reduce the use of single-use plastic bottles in sacred spaces by offering a sustainable alternative, enabling temples to still provide access to safe drinking water without compromising convenience.
Blueprint Water will introduce recyclable, paper-based water packaging as an alternative to conventional plastic bottles. These eco-friendly alternatives will easily integrate into existing temple operations and will be adaptable across different formats from daily distribution within temple premises to large-scale festival requirements, while maintaining a significantly lower environmental footprint.
Speaking about this partnership, Giresh Vasudev Kulkarni, Founder, Temple Connect and ITCX International Temples Convention & EXPO, said: “Dharma teaches us responsibility not just towards people, but towards the planet. Our temples have the power to influence millions of lives every day. Through this partnership with Blueprint Water, we are enabling sacred spaces to lead by example by adopting practices that are clean, responsible, and future-ready.”Temple Connect, a leading platform working with over 4850 temples in India and a further 1865 temples globally.
Temple Connect and Blueprint Water will also focus on driving behavioural change and have launched the ‘Eco-Hero’campaign, encouraging pilgrims to adopt conscious eco-friendly habits such as carrying reusable bottles and making environmentally responsible choices during their visits. In addition, temples and associated institutions will receive support on implementation, responsible disposal, and how to strengthen waste management systems.
Single-use plastic and glass bottle production generates huge amounts of carbon emissions while depleting non-renewable resources. The irony is stark: as we globally fight climate change, these bottles accelerate it, releasing greenhouse gases and exhausting finite materials that undermines humanity’s sustainable future.
Anuj Shah, Co-Founder, Blueprint Water, said: “At Blueprint, our focus has always been to make sustainability easy to adopt at scale. Temples are among the largest consumption hubs in the country, and even a small shift here can create a meaningful environmental impact. Our solution is designed to be cost-effective, operationally seamless, and adaptable across formats, from daily temple use to high-footfall festivals. We’re excited to partner with Temple Connect to drive this transition across India’s spiritual ecosystem.”
Rolled out in phases, the partnership between Temple Connect and Blueprint Water points to a simple but significant idea…that the future of India’s sacred spaces may depend as much on how they care for the earth as how they serve their devotees.
About the Author
(Sangeeta Waldron, Global Contributing Editor, India CSR Network, Waldron is a Media Commentator and Author.)
