Most people know about India's glowing beaches.

But what if we told you India also has forests that glow in the dark?

Think of the luminous landscapes from James Cameron's Avatar, where the forest floor shimmers with an otherworldly green light. 

While Pandora may be fictional, parts of India's rainforests offer something surprisingly similar. 

Hidden beneath dense canopies in the Western Ghats, decaying logs, tree trunks and fallen branches can emit a soft emerald glow after sunset, creating one of the country's least-known natural spectacles.

Here's everything you need to know about India's glowing ecosystems, from the science behind them to where and when you can witness them yourself.

Unlike India's bioluminescent beaches, these glowing forests rarely feature on travel itineraries. Their light is subtle, seasonal and visible only under the right conditions. 

The science behind the glow

The phenomenon is known as bioluminescence, the ability of living organisms to produce light through a natural chemical reaction.

In India's forests, that glow comes from bioluminescent fungi that colonise dead and decaying wood during the monsoon. High humidity, persistent rainfall and damp forest floors create ideal conditions for these fungi to spread across fallen trunks, branches and stumps.

The light is produced through a reaction involving a molecule called luciferin, an enzyme known as luciferase, and oxygen. Instead of releasing energy as heat, the reaction produces visible green light. 

Naturalists sometimes refer to the phenomenon as "foxfire" or "fairy fire".

Unlike fluorescent materials that require an external light source, these fungi generate their own light continuously through a biochemical process.

Scientists have identified several fungal species capable of bioluminescence, many belonging to the genus Mycena. 

India is believed to host multiple glowing fungal species, although researchers continue to........

© The Better India