Buddhist Pilgrimage and the Ritual Ecology of Sacred Sites in the Indo-Gangetic Region

Geary, David; Shinde, Kiran

doi:10.3390/rel12060385

Cited by 11 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 34 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Buddhist monks and preachers may provide spiritual counsel and guidance but are not necessarily sacred specialists in the sense that is implied in Hindu pilgrimage sites. Similarly, ritual performances differ considerably in a Buddhist sacred site and may involve more of silent prayers, meditation, and internal worship compared to the pronounced extravagant ritual performances of Hindu sites [13]. This is not to say that these aspects are completely missing; rather, they are much subdued and smaller in scale.…”

Section: Understanding Buddhist Sites In Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Still on UNESCO’s “Tentative List of World Heritage”? Heritage, Tourism, and Stunted Growth in Sarnath (Varanasi), India

Shinde

Singh

2023

Heritage

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

It is not unusual for a place to wait for years before being inscribed on the World Heritage List, but Sarnath—the place where the Buddha delivered his first sermon—has been on UNESCO’s “tentative list” for close to 25 years. As a sacred place for Buddhist pilgrimages, Sarnath continues to attract thousands of visitors annually and yet, remains under-developed, unlike other pilgrim towns or religious tourism destinations. This paper examines the reasons for the stunted growth of Sarnath. The findings are based on fieldwork conducted in Sarnath in 2019. The analysis of stakeholder interviews suggests several reasons for Sarnath not being able to capitalize on its religious and cultural heritage for tourism-led development. It was found that the protection of the site as an archaeological park by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which has been controlling development surrounding the park as well as prohibiting the performance of any rituals, have been the key endogenous factors that have contributed to the relative under-development of a Buddhist pilgrimage economy in the town. A handful of monasteries are where Buddhist followers stay and perform their pilgrimage rituals, rendering them as enclaves. Private-sector accommodation is also limited to around 15 hotels and guesthouses. Administratively, Sarnath does not have an independent governance structure. It is governed as just one ward (an electoral constituency) by the Municipal Corporation of Varanasi and is, thus, always under the shadow of Varanasi city. Varanasi is one of the most significant Hindu sacred cities and, hence, visitors stay there for much longer durations to soak in cultural offerings, including religious ceremonies around the Ganga River; a visit to Sarnath is secondary and often limited to a half-day tour. Moreover, the archaeological park at Sarnath serves a recreational purpose as a picnic site for domestic visitors. The exogenous factors mean that the interests of Sarnath (as a Buddhist site) are hardly acknowledged by the Hindu city of Varanasi. This paper argues that the multi-layered contestations that exist at the site level, the town–ward level, and between visitors and managers have further contributed to the poor state of heritage and tourism in Sarnath.

show abstract

Section: Understanding Buddhist Sites In Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Still on UNESCO’s “Tentative List of World Heritage”? Heritage, Tourism, and Stunted Growth in Sarnath (Varanasi), India

Shinde

Singh

2023

Heritage

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Liro is even more focused on seeing that pilgrimage is a motivation (Liro, 2021). The studies by Lin et al (2021), Nelson-Becker et al (2020, Vila et al (2020), and Sobry &Purnamasari (2021) focused on achievements in the pilgrimage phenomenon (Lin et al, 2021;Nelson-Becker et al, 2020;Sobry & Purnamasari, 2021;Vila et al, 2020) Then studies conducted by Butler (2020), Farra-Hadad (2021, Geary & Shinde (2021), Gottowik (2020), andRahimi &Amin (2020) informed that the phenomenon of pilgrimage would be closely related to rituals. Rituals in a pilgrimage are performed to achieve something after returning home from the pilgrimage (Butler, 2020;Farra-Hadad, 2021;Geary & Shinde, 2021;Gottowik, 2020;Rahimi & Amin, 2020).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Philosophical Baseline of the Religious Pilgrimage and Its Significance for Dialogue among Religions

Hamsah¹,

Zarbaliyev²,

Soehadha³

2022

fikrah

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

<span lang="EN-US">As a religious phenomenon, pilgrimages have varying orientations. The diversity of orientations is determined by the level of motivation and meaning of the symbols attached to the pilgrimage. The connection between exposure and awareness of pilgrimage becomes the basis for pilgrims to interpret deeper aspects. The problem that arises later is the axiological interpretation of pilgrimage. In this reflective and theoretical study, the data was collected through in-depth reading about the pilgrimage of currently available academic literature. By applying philosophical analysis, the following article seeks to trace the most profound meaning of pilgrimage for creating positive interfaith relations. This study concludes that the most profound aspect of pilgrimage consciousness is archetypes that explain the uniformity of the spirit of pilgrimage carried out by the people of the religions. With that archetype, interfaith relations are easy to build because of the awareness of humanity and the apparent solidarity among religious adherents</span>

show abstract

“…Sebagian umat beragama dalam menjalankan ritualnya atau bersembahyang dilengkapi dengan tata caranya, selain itu juga persembahanpersembahan yang dipersiapkan sebagai pelengkap dalam bersembayang. Begitu juga dalam ritual yang dilaksanakan oleh umat beragama Buddha, sebelum melaksanakan sembahyang segala perlengkapan dipersiapkan terlebih dahulu seperti perlengkapan alat sembahyang dan persembahan-persembahan yang digunakan dalam persembahyangan (Geary & Shinde, 2021;Mah et al, 2020).…”

Section: Pendahuluanunclassified

Makna Persembahan Pada Ritual Api Homa Bagi Umat Buddha Vihara Vajra Bumi Giri Putra Desa Segaralangu, Kecamatan Cipari, Kabupaten Cilacap

Hartono

2022

JSRD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis makna Persembahan pada ritual Api Homa bagi umat Buddha Vihara Vajra Bumi Giri Putra Desa Segaralangu, Kecamatan Cipari, Kabupaten Cilacap dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif. Persembahan ritual Api Homa terbagi menjadi persembahan yang wajib dan persembahan pendukung. Makna persembahan dari ritual Api Homa diantaranya yang pertama untuk memperkokoh keyakinan terhadap Buddha Dharma, dengan kuatnya keyakinan terhadap ajaran Buddha mempunyai efek yang baik misalnya tidak mudah terpengaruh pindah agama, tidak terpengaruh untuk melakukan hal-hal yang buruk dan sebagainya. Kedua yaitu melatih diri, dengan menyiapkan persembahan-persembahan khususnya adalah mempersembahkan sesuatu yang ada, bertujuan melatih diri untuk tidak melekat, sehingga meminimalisir munculnya sifat-sifat kikir atau pelit. Ketiga adalah tolak bala, dengan mempersembahkan sesuatu yang dipunyai adalah memendam sifat kikir, hal ini merupakan bagian dari melatih diri untuk mengembangkan rasa peduli terhadap orang lain, sehingga segala rintangan dapat teratasi dengan baik. Keempat yaitu kebutuhan manusia adalah dalam hal keharmonisan. Kelima adalah dalam hal meningkatkan berkah, dan yang keenam adalah untuk penaklukan. sebagai seorang umat Buddha tentunya harus tekun melatih diri, konsentrasi, dan bermodalkan ketekunan, ketenangan.

show abstract

Buddhist Pilgrimage and the Ritual Ecology of Sacred Sites in the Indo-Gangetic Region

Cited by 11 publications

References 34 publications

Still on UNESCO’s “Tentative List of World Heritage”? Heritage, Tourism, and Stunted Growth in Sarnath (Varanasi), India

Still on UNESCO’s “Tentative List of World Heritage”? Heritage, Tourism, and Stunted Growth in Sarnath (Varanasi), India

Philosophical Baseline of the Religious Pilgrimage and Its Significance for Dialogue among Religions

Makna Persembahan Pada Ritual Api Homa Bagi Umat Buddha Vihara Vajra Bumi Giri Putra Desa Segaralangu, Kecamatan Cipari, Kabupaten Cilacap

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About