As dawn breaks over the Sal forests of Bandhavgarh, a thin mist rolls through the undergrowth, blurring the line between the sacred and the wild. Thousands of pilgrims walk in quiet reverence, their footsteps muffled by fallen leaves, their eyes cast upwards towards the forested cliffs that house a 10th-century temple dedicated to Lord Ram. Their path winds through tiger territory, a pilgrimage as old as the legends that define this land. And yet, in every leaf, shadow, and sound, there is a quiet question: Will the forest let them pass?