Heritage tourism research has always been faced with an interpretive dilemma: standard interpretive techniques like static signage, printed brochures, and standardized audio guides are inherently limited in terms of their ability to communicate the rich layers of history, spirituality, and culture that make up complex heritage settings, especially in the knowledge-diverse and post-colonial context of India. The present theoretical study seeks to investigate whether Extended Reality (XR) offers any substantial solution to the interpretive problem not from the perspective of the technology’s ability to enhance visitor satisfaction levels but as a means to achieve heritage interpretation in its broader sense as defined by Tilden: fostering curiosity, uncovering meaning, and forging a personal link between the tourist and history. With a conceptual framework inspired by the Heritage Interpretation Theory, the Authenticity Theory, Contested Heritage studies, and the Stimulus-Organism-Response structure, the study posits a model which tries to determine the way in which XR can make people feel connected with their roots. Six theories have been offered in this study, and four major gaps in the context of Indian heritage Tourism have been mentioned. They include the lack of awareness about the importance of visitors’ curiosity to heritage interpretation, controversies over the concept of existential authenticity at living sacred places, discrepancies between the knowledge of oral communities and archaeologists, and the absence of a postcolonial approach to heritage design using XR technology. The study further mentions the factors that will allow heritage site managers to conserve the religious and communal values of these sites while ensuring their existential authenticity