NEW DELHI — A groundbreaking new study has confirmed what local poets have apparently known for centuries: the landscape is precisely as described in 13th-century folk songs. Scientists, after decades of satellite imaging, soil analysis, and advanced botanical surveys, have sheepishly announced that their understanding of India’s savannas was fundamentally flawed because they failed to consult the nation’s extensive literary canon.

“It turns out, if you just read a few epic poems, they tell you exactly where the thorny shrubs and open grasslands are,” admitted Dr. Anjali Sharma, lead author of the study, adjusting her spectacles. “We spent millions on LiDAR and drone mapping, when a quick Google search for ‘ancient Indian nature poetry’ would have saved us considerable time and grant money. Frankly, it’s embarrassing.”

The revelation suggests that vast swathes of land previously earmarked for “restoration” to fictional lush forests were, in fact, perfectly natural savannas all along. Conservation efforts, which often involve planting trees where they don’t belong, are now facing an existential crisis, as experts scramble to determine if any other ancient art forms might be holding crucial ecological data.

“Next, we’re checking cave paintings for rainfall patterns and interpretive dance for seismic activity,” Dr. Sharma added, visibly deflated. “Who knows what other truths are hiding in plain sight, just waiting for us to stop being so damn scientific about everything?”

Meanwhile, local bards are reportedly demanding royalties for their inadvertent contributions to modern ecology, while simultaneously wondering why it took so long for anyone to listen to a good couplet.