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Protecting and Managing Living
Sacred Landscapes - Issues and Challenges- Rohit Jigyasu
The
presentation would draw upon several examples to illustrate the
challenges in protecting and managing living sacred landscapes.
These would specifically include cultural landscape of Majuli island
in Assam; an important centre of the Vaishnavite movement and Hampi
World Heritage Site in Karnataka, for its mythological significance
related to Kishkindha Chapter of Ramayana. The concepts of
authenticity, integrity and sustainability and disaster risk
management would be investigated in the context of Asian religious
philosophies of Hinduism and Buddhism. The need for redefining
conservation approach would be emphasised in the light of these
philosophies and the contemporary social, economic and
administrative realities.
Rohit Jigyasu is a conservation architect and risk management
consultant from India, currently working as invited professor at
Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan. He did his post-graduate
degree in Architectural Conservation from the School of Planning and
Architecture in Delhi, and his doctoral degree in Engineering from
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway.
His Doctoral thesis was titled “Reducing Disaster Vulnerability
through Local Knowledge and Capacity- the Case of Earthquake Prone
Rural Communities in India and Nepal”.
In
addition to teaching at academic institutions around the world he
is a consultant with Archaeological Survey of India, National
Institute of Disaster Management, UNESCO, ICCROM and the Getty
Conservation Institute for conducting research and training on
Cultural Heritage Risk Management. He also brings with him the
practical experience of working in the world heritage sites of
Khajuraho, Hampi, Konarak and Ajanta & Ellora. He has contributed to
various conferences and has several publications to his credit.
Intersecting
Trajectories: The Sacred Site of Our Lady of Fatima-
Karla Britton
This paper proposes to examine the
enigmatic site of Fatima, Portugal as a contemporary
sacred space where there is an intense interaction between
architecture, religious practices, and socio-political and cultural
developments. Fatima is the site of one of the most singular religious events of the twenty
century: the tradition is that in 1917 the Mother of God appeared to
three young children who were shepherds in the mountainous hills of
the Serra de Aire, 80 kilometers north of
Lisbon. Against the political
backdrop of World War I, the Bolshevik revolution and Portuguese
nationalism, the six apparitions of Mary brought to three children a
message of peace, love, and hope. While Fatima’s place name goes back to the site’s Moorish origins and the daughter
of Muhammad, since the apparition, the site has grown today to
become a place of Christian pilgrimage and prayer drawing more than
six million people per year. Its esplanade, twice the size of Saint
Peter’s in
Rome, can hold as many as one million persons. Pope
John Paul II’s devotion to Our Lady of Fatima for saving him from an
assassin’s bullet greatly expanded the site’s familiarity to Roman
Catholics around the world.
As a result, a new sanctuary was
constructed in 2007 designed by Alexander Tombazis, The Church of
the Most Holy Trinity, to accommodate the increasing crowds of
pilgrims. Concepts in the design of contemporary sacred architecture
and the manner in which literature and film has addressed its
history are examined (especially the 1952 film Our Lady of Fatima,
and the work of José Saramago, the mémoire of Sister Lucia, and the
recent suspense novel by Steve Berry).
Karla Britton teaches the history
of architecture and urbanism at the School of
Architecture at Yale
University. Before coming to Yale in the fall of 2003, she was Adjunct Associate
Professor of Architecture at
Columbia
University and Director of its architecture program in
Paris. She received her PhD in
Architecture History and Theory from Harvard
University and her MA in Comparative Literature from
Columbia
University. She has written on the history of the Modern Movement in
Architecture, including the monograph Auguste Perret (2001).
With Dean Sakamoto, she edited Hawaiian Modern: the Architecture
of Vladimir Ossipoff (2007). She is editor of Constructing
the Ineffable: Contemporary Sacred Architecture and the author
of Modern Urbanism, both to be published next year.
Varanasi, the Holy and Heritage
City of India: Sacred Geometry, Sacred Art and Sacred Landscape -
Rana
P.B. Singh
Varanasi (Banaras/ Kashi) represents the mosaic of Indian culture
with its diversity and distinctiveness of the regional cultures
through an unique process of spatial manifestation in the passage of
time, unified with the power of sacrality. People from all parts of
India, speaking different languages and dialects and carrying their
own traits, taboos and traditions have settled in this city,
ultimately accepting Vishvanatha Shiva as their main deity.
In
Banaras alone, there are over 3300 Hindu shrines and
temples, 1428 Muslim shrines and mosques, 12 churches, 3 Jain
temples, 9 Buddhist temples, 3 Sikh Gurudwaras and several other
sacred sites and places. It is said ‘by seeing Varanasi, one can see
as much of life as the whole India can show’; but it is not easy to
comprehend for those who stand outside the Hindu tradition. The city
has possessed a strong force of spiritual magnetism, the special
power that always enhances the sensitivity to the “crossings” from
this mundane world to the transpersonal world beyond, where humanity
meets divinity. It is not a surprise why the city has found its
place in all the great Indian epics, Puranas and other
ancient Hindu and Buddhist literature.
The frame of the cosmic reality, according to ancient Hindu thought,
consists of the three fundamental states called evolution (shrishti),
existence (sthiti), and involution (samhara) that act
in a cyclic process of infinity.
The sequences in the
ritual cycles, the sacrality of time and the holy spots chosen for
rituals are codified in mythology and tradition on the scale of
cultural astronomy. The study of sacred environment of Kashi reveals
that each can be considered to be a "mesocosm" that
geometrically links the celestial realm of macrocosm with
human realms of text, tradition, and ritual.
Prof.
Rana P. B. Singh is
Professor of
Cultural Geography & Heritage Studies, Banaras Hindu University,
Varanasi. He specializes in Cultural & Historical Geography;
Pilgrimage Studies, Heritage & Ecotourism; Cultural codes, Astronomy
& Architectural symbolism; Environmental ethics, Humanism; Rural
Land use & Settlements. He has been the Japan Foundation Fellow in
Geography, Okayama University, Visiting Professor, Geogr. & Environ.
System, Virginia Tech USA, Visiting Professor: Karlstad University
(Sweden). His main academic contributions have been in the field of
Spatio-temporal Dimensional theory of Diffusion. Space Articulation
theory in Indian villages. Literary images & Spirit of Place. Ritual
Mandala & Sacrality of Space and Time. Pilgrimage Mandala, Sacred
Geography & Cosmic Order of Holy Places. Geomancy & Cultural
symbolism in Hinduism. Concepts of Sacredscape and Faithscape and
Pilgrimage systems. He is a life-member: Indian National Trust for
Art and Cultural Heritage, National Geographical Society of India
and is the Executive Editor of the National Geographical Journal of
India. He was awarded the “International Peace Prize” by
American Biographical Institute 2003 and the “American Medal of
Honour”, 2003. He also has been included as an “Outstanding Man
of the 20th Century” - 1999. by the International Biogr. Inst.,
Cambridge.
Mapping
Sacred Spaces –
Cultural mapping of the Hazrat Nizamuddin
Basti -
Ratish Nanda/Tara Sharma
 Hazrat Nizamuddin basti is one of Delhi’s
oldest areas which has evolved around the 14th century
dargah of the great Sufi saint, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. The
dargah is synonymous with the Sufi philosophy espoused by the
saint that embraces people of all religions and all walks of life.
It was due to the presence of the saint’s khankah and his
dargah that the area around developed as a major necropolis
where both rulers and commoners chose to be buried. The area
showcases some of the most outstanding Islamic architectural
heritage in India ranging from the tomb of the second Mughal emperor
Humayun to the more modest grave of the Mughal princess Jahanara
located within the precinct of the dargah.
To understand the cultural significance of this
area, a mapping of the precinct is being carried out by a team of
young people from the basti. The mapping includes the listing of
all built structures located within the basti and the surrounding
areas as well as a documentation of the basti’s intangible heritage
as seen in the Urs and other festivals. One of the principal aims of
this programme is to develop linkages between the youth and the
heritage of their neighbourhood which for many reasons does not
presently exist. Based on the mapping a series of programmes will be
launched to highlight the great Sufi tradition of the basti.
Ratish Nanda is
the Project Director of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture urban renewal
programme at the Humayun's Tomb-Sundar Nursery-Hazrat Nizamuddin
Basti. Ratish is a Conservation Architect and has spearheaded the
restoration of the Humayun's Tomb gardens and the restoration of the
Bagh i Babur in Kabul. Ratish is a recepient of the Sanskriti Award.
Tara Sharma is a heritage manager and has been working with
communities in the conservation of the their heritage. She has
worked extensively in Ladakh and is presently working with the Aga
Khan Trust for Culture in the urban renewal programme being carried
out in Humayun's Tomb - Sundar Nursery- Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti.
Tara is developing the cultural mapping programme in the basti with
the young people of the area.
Sacred Spaces in Indian
Urbanism -
AGK Menon
However much our
society venerates sacred spaces in spiritual terms, the grim reality
of Indian cities is that these spaces are the most neglected and
abused parts of cities in terms of civic governance. As an urban
conservationist I have studied the significance of several sacred
spaces in cities like, Varanasi, Ujjain and Old Bhubaneswar. The
objective of these studies were to use the sacred spaces as
catalytic agents to revitalize the civic environment in those
cities. The logic underpinning these projects was that these spaces
once defined the character and identity of Indian urbanism but today
the believer is indifferent to its intrinsic spatial value and the
professional town planners and administrators are unable to
understand its contemporary relevance. This debilitating fact needed
to be contested ifwe hoped to improve the quality of life in our
cities.
In theoretical terms one could also argue that the indigenous
urbanism as it is manifested in sacred spaces offers an opportunity
to consciously articulate the concepts of multiple modernities that
are engaging cultural theorists globally. Thus the typology and
morphology of sacred spaces could be considered and used as the
building blocks for the secular city.
However, the potential to develop sacred spaces as models for the
emerging modern city has not been exploited so far. The double
tragedy of Indian urbanism is that both, those who plan cities and
the citizens, for whom the cities are planned, are complicit in the
destruction of sacred spaces. The results can be seen as unlivable
cities with culturally hostile urban environments. To understand
this failure, one needs to examine, and thereafter, respond to the
origins of town planning in India.
First, we need to understand the consequences of the imperial legacy
in town planning. This legacy created the discipline of modern town
planning in India. Its origins decisively shifted the focus of town
planners from dealing with indigenous town planning traditions to
the practice of adopting, wholesale, town planning ideas and models
which were developed in England, in response to the deteriorating
environmental conditions of its industrializing cities at the end of
the nineteenth century. It is hardly surprising that the needs of
sustaining sacred spaces of Indian cities did not fit into this
English perspective of town planning. Consequently sacred spaces
have borne the brunt of the shift in the gaze of the town planner.
Second, because of the intellectual hiatus imposed on the practice
of indigenous traditions of town planning by the introduction of
‘modern’ town planning, Indian town planners need to pick up the
threads and re-engage with the significance of sacred spaces in
Indian cities. For this they need to purposefully examine indigenous
town planning traditions, not only to understand its structural
logic and functional dynamics, but also to translate such
understanding into effective town planning strategies. Can we revive
indigenous town planning traditions and make them become models for
contemporary town planning? If such a shift were to take place, then
it would begin to mitigate the consequences of the imperial legacy
and help formulate new kinds of solutions to deal with local urban
problems. It would also offer a compelling alternative to the town
planners intellectual reliance on adopting foreign town practices.
Third, in the light of the above two points, there is need to
restructure town planning education. Inter alia there is also need
to reformulate the tools of town planning. The mind of the town
planner in India is moulded in the class rooms where they are taught
to valorize Ebenezer Howards’ Garden City Movement, for example, and
not the logic underpinning the evolution of the bye-lanes of
Shahjahanabad. Such shifts in focus in the class rooms can certainly
highlight the value of sacred spaces and their continued relevance
in determining the quality of life in contemporary cities.
Sacred spaces are more than religious spaces: they are
civilizational markers. Perhaps they could be considered generic
spatial characteristics of pre-industrial cities mediated in
different regions by local cultures, but the challenge they offer
contemporary town planning in India is the opportunity to
accommodate these characteristics as functioning precincts in the
secular modern city.
Natural and Spatial Archetypes in Sacred Landscapes of Hinduism and
Buddhism -
Amita Sinha
Abstract: Sacred landscapes are a significant part of the natural
heritage of the Indian subcontinent. In my presentation I show
natural and spatial archetypes to be the building blocks of Indic
landscapes that are shaped by a transcendental view of nature.
Nature is shaped into landscapes through mimesis while
self-similarity underlies their evolution. This conceptual framework
provides an understanding of how such landscapes come to be and the
ways in which human communities sustain them. It can guide a
self-sustaining conservation approach rooted in tradition.
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