Abstract: Despite of extensive deforestation and land use changes in India, one of the most resilient features of the country’s landscape is the temple or sacred forests. Because of their ‘divine’ protection, a number of tree species that have otherwise been heavily extracted from the forests continue to exist in the groves. However in recent years with the erosion of religious faith and encroachment of these sacred groves, there is a growing concern if the groves indeed can offer a refugium to the endemic and endangered species of the Chhattisgarh state. In this context, we examined the population genetic structure and genetic diversity of Chhattisgarh state, a canopy tree species in sacred groves of varying sizes.