<p>Religious tourism, through its fulfillment of tourists’ spiritual aspirations and emotional needs, has gradually become a notable form of tourism aimed at the alleviation of societal pressure and the pursuit of inner peace, and it has gained widespread popularity among travelers. On the basis of the theoretical framework of emotion appraisal theory and the incorporation of insights from embodied cognition theory, this study systematically explores the mechanisms through which tourists' religious tourism experiences (sense experience and relate experience) influence their destination loyalty. This research is focused on the mediating role of awe and the moderating effects of prior knowledge on this relationship. Guiyuan Temple in Wuhan is used as a case study, and a combination of field surveys and online questionnaires is used to collect data. The empirical findings reveal that both sense and relate experience in religious tourism significantly and positively influence awe and destination loyalty, and the effect of relate experience is particularly profound. Additionally, both sense experience and relate experience indirectly enhance destination loyalty through awe. Furthermore, prior knowledge—particularly religious background and value identification—plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between religious tourism experiences and destination loyalty. Tourists with extensive religious knowledge and strong value identification tend to have higher levels of loyalty. From a theoretical perspective, this study addresses the research gap in understanding the relationships among religious tourism experiences, emotional responses, and loyalty by proposing an integrated dual-dimensional model of sense experience and relate experience. The findings lay a solid foundation for future explorations into religious tourism experiences and provide valuable insights and directions for practical applications in the management and marketing of religious tourism destinations.</p>