Vol.:(0123456789) SN Soc Sci (2023) 3:178 https://doi.org/10.1007/s43545-023-00768-7 ORIGINAL PAPER Cultural and spatial dimensions of sacred sites in Aravalli mountain range, Udaipur (Rajasthan), India Rakesh Kumar 1  · Vijay Kumar Koli 1 Received: 18 April 2023 / Accepted: 17 September 2023 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 Abstract Comprehending the interplay between human society and environmental systems necessitates an understanding of their religious dimensions. Our research objective was to explore the cultural and spatial dimensions of sacred sites within the semi- arid Aravalli mountain range in western India, alongside assessing the current threats these sites face leading to their degradation. Between November 2021 and April 2022, we travelled ~ 5000 km within the Udaipur district to identify and document potential sacred sites. Data was collected through interview of people and survey on feet at site. We recorded 89 sacred sites associated to diverse deities, including sizes ranging from 0.08 to 90 hec. The majority of these sites, established over 500 years ago, exhibited proximity to water and were surrounded by native forests. Notably, most sites were situated atop hills or in foothills, with greater human activities observed in foothill and ground-level sites. The dominant deity encountered was Lord Shiva. Interestingly, sites associated with the gender of deities exhibited signifcant variations in terms of their area (P = 0.02) and types of land (P = 0.01). Management point of view, only 24 sites had a wall surrounding them for protection, whereas grazing and lopping were observed in 46 and 11 sites, respectively. In terms of human activity, the majority of sites experienced relatively less disturbances in terms of daily visitor counts. The cultural dimensions of these sites were intricately interwoven with regional history. Notably, the concentration of sites within forested areas suggests that the Aravalli ecosystem features a high potential for biodiversity conservation. The safeguarding of these sites, with active involvement from concerned communities and stakeholders, may aid in their efective and long-term management. Keywords Indian culture · Mewar · Deity · Threat · Conservation · Management issues * Vijay Kumar Koli vijaykoli87@yahoo.in 1 Wildlife Research Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur, Rajasthan 313001, India