Sacred Heritage and Pilgrimages in Cities by Singh, Rana P. B.; Niglio, Olimpia;

Long description:

This book aims to examine the role and status of sacred cities in the context of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and associated cultural and sacred landscapes with an emphasis on awakening the deeper cultural sense in harmonising the world and enhancing religious and spiritual tourism—all in the frame of “Future of the Earth”. The book adds a new dimension of cultural understanding to the broad domain of emerging human geoscience, which is considered as a platform for contributing to the role of holy-heritage cities towards sustainable development. Chapters include contributions from Austria, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Sri Lanka, the UK, and the USA.

Interfacing heritage cities and pilgrimages is a global concern in the contemporary world, which covers many points of view of the common impacts of socio-economic-cultural and jurisprudence planning, wellbeing and related domains. Concerned with the complex interactions between development and environment, the aim is to seek paths and implications for framing sustainability in all social activities through the status and role of holy-heritage cities.

“As many essays in this book examine, striking a proper balance between the “tourist” and “pilgrim” uses of sacred sites remains a major concern, particularly in urban contexts.” (Prof. Francesco Bandarin, (ex) Director, UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Paris).

“This book is a masterpiece that illuminates the multitude of relationships between sacred space, urban environments, religious heritage, and pilgrimages.” (Prof. Dallen J. Timothy, Arizona State University, Phoenix, USA).

“The book, genuinely an important collection of papers, has focussed on the interrelationship, interaction, and transformations in sacred heritage and pilgrimages in cities.” (Prof. Rima Hooja, President, ICOMOS India, SPA- New Delhi, India).

“This book, the first of its kind, paves a solid path for understanding the interfaces between sacred heritage and pilgrimages in cities, which will help to strengthen cultural sustainability.” (Emer. Prof. Taigen Hashimoto, Indology, Toyo University, Tokyo, Japan).

Table of Contents:

Part 1: Sacred heritage: The platform.- Sacred heritage, landscapes, and pilgrimage in cities: Some reflections.- Ravi S. Singh: Reminiscences and his contributions on sacred heritage and pilgrimage.- Encounters among time, place, and heritage: Experiential reflections.- From marginalisation to national popularity and decline: Fluctuating patterns in the Shikoku pilgrimage, strategies for revival and fears for the future.- Descent of Ganga and an ascent of humankind: Spatial orientations toward sacred river heritage.- The national temple of Confucius in Beijing: A Structuralist analysis of sacred space.- The social and spatial layers of Borobudur temple compounds/ Java, Indonesia.- Hidden Christians and sacred landscape in the South of Japan. A world cultural heritage.- Part 2: Sacred sites: Transformation & scenario.- Sacred space and cultural landscapes of Anuradhapura.- Transformation of the sacred town of Nabadwip: A study of religious superimposition and adaptability.- The sacred and heritage landscapes of Bali, Indonesia: Prospects for SDGs.- Jain pilgrimages places: The sacred heritage and universal message.- Ayodhyā (India): Sacredscapes and the inclusive heritage development.- Sacred heritage and pilgrimage cities in Lithuania.- Salt Lake City, Utah (USA): Making and maintaining a holy city.- Part 3: Sacred places, pilgrimages, and cities.- The entangled-liminal sacred space of the Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba as an Al-Andalus religious landscape.- Sacred buildings as an essential part of the heritage system in Regensburg.- Manifestation of sacredness in the pilgrimage sites of Uttarakhand.- Prayagraj and the Kumbh Mela: The transformation and prospects for cultural tourism.- Architectural visuality in Konkani temple settlement in Mattancherry, India.- Sacred heritage and the spiritual landscape of Vrindavan, India: A study of urban transformation.- Kāshī, the city of Vishvanātha and Jñānavāpī: Succession, sustenance, and resurrection to sustainability.