BACKGROUND: Socio-cultural explanatory factors for mental health problems determine help seeking behaviors. The study aimed to understand the reasons mentally ill patients and their families in India choose to seek help from a religious site. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Persons with mental illness and their families were interviewed at religious sites using a guideline questionnaire. Issues such as significant life events, explanations for perceived abnormal behavior and reasons for choosing a specific religious site for 'treatment' were explored. DISCUSSION: Seeking religious help for mental disorders is often a first step in the management of mental disorders as a result of cultural explanations for the illness. This behavior also has social sanctions.