Sacred Landscapes

Sbas yul gyi dkar chags  ‘khrul med bshugs so  (The unmistaken register of the hidden land,  hereafter referred to as  URHL)  is a  fascinating example of  Tibetan  Buddhist sacred landscape literature.  It describes the minor sbas yul of  Sbas lcags shing ri  (Secret  Iron  Wood  Mountain,  hereafter referred to as  Pachakshiri)  located in the environs of  Mechuka in  Arunachal  Pradesh,  India.1  This paper examines excerpts of a  dkar chag,  or catalog,  composed as a  dialogue between the imperial  Tibetan  Buddhist figures  Ye shes mtsho rgyal and Padmasambhava. In it, they discuss the sbas yul of Sbas lcags shing ri located in the  Mechuka  (Sman chu ka)  valley in the  Eastern  Himalayan region of  Arunachal Pradesh, India. It explores a section of the dialogue in which Ye shes mtsho rgyal asks Padmasambhava, “How is this sacred place arrayed?” His response describes the establishment of this sbas yul via a quadruplicate process of tantric enactment. The boundaries are set and maintained via the four enlightened activities (phrin las rnam bzhi), of pacification (zhi), increase (rgyas), magnetism (dbang), and wrath (drag). The study examines sacred landscape by considering the progressive formation of this sbas yul via these four enlightened actions and how each functions as geomantic referents for deep levels of embodied meditative accomplishment. Examining this framework expands our understanding of  Buddhist tantric landscape beyond the paradigms of subjugation and suppression.  This quartet of actualizing engagements is of equal significance in the formation and maintenance of a wholly transformed tantric ritual domain.

This article will demonstrate that the visual and experiential religious elements visible in the components of the Gosford Edogawa Commemorative Garden (New South Wales, Australia) have been shifted outside of the realm of "understanding" that is promoted by the Sister City Agreement that established the garden. Understanding within this article refers to how the experiential aspects of the garden depends on each individual, their own interpretation of the garden, and their own knowledge. The invisibility of the religiosity of the garden results in a mediation of how individuals in Gosford, and visitors, interact with the space. These interpretations through a secular body such as the Gosford City Council, who seemingly do not promote the garden as a sacred landscape, offer an investigation into those who interpret the environment depending on their own knowledge. Through discourses on understanding, that are the result of specific language used to describe and explain the...

In 1706, the Church of England became the established church of South Carolina. Construction of several churches began shortly thereafter under the supervision of local parish supervisors. Archaeological testing at the 1707 St. Paul’s Parish Church indicates parish supervisors purposely altered the church’s orientation from the traditional east-to-west orientation in order to make it more of a presence on the landscape. A subsequent regional landscape study of other early-18th century South Carolina Anglican churches suggests that throughout the colony, church supervisors strategically placed churches on the landscape to be material expressions of the Anglican Church’s presence and power in the culturally and ethnically divided colony. As a consequence of the intentional placement of churches on the landscape, the South Carolina Anglican Church played a larger role in the development of the colony by affecting the expansion of transportation networks and later settlement patterns.

Protecting our Cultural and Landscape heritage is an indispensable act: Cultural landscape is the result of anthropic actions and reflects our history, but also it is still alive and active. To live fully the landscape means first of all to recognize it in the many landscapes described by the European Landscape Convention of 2000. But landscape is also emotion; this is the magically hidden face of it: not just something material but a consequence of feelings, too. It is the result of that exact moment in which we focus on looking at it in a careful, not distracted manner. Is nature imposing rules on art or is art dictating them to nature? Perhaps there is no answer but one thing is certain: every act of watching, contemplating , acting in the landscape is the result of both conditions, at least in our western culture. Valorizing the concept of the journey into the landscape, the acting in the landscape , becomes a cultural necessity: to be between the places, to live the landscape contrary to an idea of journey made of destinations, goals, points. By acknowledging the cultural and social aspects of our multi-faceted Landscape heritage, we must understand how it is essential to re-educate people to observe historical, anthropological and naturalistic signs and to pay more attention to the environment.
in (assistant ed. Visentin, ed. by Niglio), Conoscere, conservare, valorizzare il patrimonio culturale religioso
Volume 3: Archivi, biblioteche, musei, ISBN 978-88-255-0631-0

This book is the first detailed study on Panchakroshi Yatra (cosmic circuit) and its associated inner sanctum, the Antargriha Yatra, of Banars, India's cultural capital and Hindus' holiest city. Assuming itself as the centre of the cosmos, Kashi (Varanasi, Banaras) has preserved up to date its mandalic system, which is experienced and revived by millions of devout Hindus through pilgrimage. At least since the 15th century, devotees continuously perform pilgrimage on these two circuits. The oral and mythological traditions of pilgrimage are narrated with a combination of historical, experiential, cultural, statistical, spatial and Indological perspectives. The 108 shrines on the route are described with the help of many maps and illustrations. The topics covered include the background of the archetypal nature of pilgrimage, the cosmic mandalas and the circulatory paths, the historical background of the Panchakroshi Yatra and its contextual growth, the context of cardinality, the impact of change, the pilgrimage-cognitive maps, sacred territory and sacred time, religious experiences, the Panchakroshi Temple, the dharmashalas, the characteristics of pilgrims, the circuit of the inner sanctum, the ecology of place and the Improvement Plan. Finally, the book includes an exhaustive bibliography, followed by appendices giving information on shrines, temples, Yatra, etc. This version is reprinted with updating and adding 30 Pilgrimage Journeys, and current information.

Transcending Architecture considers the mysterious, profound, and real power of designed environments to address the spiritual dimension of our humanity. By bringing in perspectives from within and without architecture, the book offers a wide, critical and nuanced understanding of the lived relationship between the built and the numinous worlds.

Far from avoiding the charged issues of subjectivity, culture and intangibility, the book examines phenomenological, symbolic and designerly ways in which the holy gets fixed and experienced through buildings, landscapes, and urban forms, and not just in institutionally defined “religious” or “sacred” places.  Acknowledging that no individual voice can exhaust the topic, Transcending Architecture brings together a stellar group of scholars and practitioners to share their insights: architect Juhani Pallasmaa and philosopher Karsten Harries, comparative religion scholar Lindsay Jones and architectural theoretician Karla Britton, sacred architecture researcher Thomas Barrie and theologian Kevin Seasoltz, landscape architect Rebecca Krinke and Faith & Form magazine editor Michael Crosbie, are among the illustrious contributors.

The result is the most direct, clear, and subtle scholarly text solely focused on the transcendental dimension of architecture available. This book thus provides, on one hand, understanding, relief, and growth to an architectural discipline that usually avoids its ineffable dimension and, on the other hand, a necessary dose of detail and reality to fields such as theological aesthetics, material anthropology, or philosophical phenomenology that too often fall trapped into unproductive generalizations and over-intellectualizations.

This collective volume is the fourth in an ongoing series on key concepts in the archaeology and anthropology of religion. It offers a summary introduction about the history and current state of pilgrimage studies in anthropological and archaeological research, with a view to offering an updated set of critical insights to a broad international audience. Having said that, the main object of this series is to serve as a critical update on current trends and debates in relation to a Spanish-speaking readership of students and scholars dedicated to anthropology and archaeology. However the case studies that we offer are based on original (i.e. not previously published) research by Mexico-based colleagues working across a wide spectrum of global culture regions, and should therefore be of interest to other international readers. The studies in this tome range across North America (Mexico and the USA), Melanesia, East Asia (China and Tibet), the Berber regions of Morocco, and Southern Africa.

The towns and surrounding rural areas of the Eastern Roman Empire experienced a remarkable boom during Late Antiquity (late fourth to seventh century AD), which involved both extraordinary diversity from region to region but also continuities and parallel transformations in town size and monumentality. Early investment in church and fortification building on behalf of an ecclesiastical and secular/urban elite gave way to a gradual, progressive ‘Christianisation’ of townscapes in the late fifth and sixth centuries AD. This was a ‘global’ phenomenon, in that it began in many parts of the eastern Mediterranean world at more or less the same time, and this paper focuses on the example of central and southern Greece to discuss how this process relates to issues of urban diversity during this period. The article draws from a data set of excavated remains at Athens in Attica and Corinth in the Peloponnese, and from recent survey work in Tanagra in Boeotia.

En 1964 se inauguró en Mexico el nuevo Museo Nacional de Antropología.  Se ha señalado frecuentemente, que tanto el edificio como el concepto museológico son expresiones del indigenismo nacionalista del entonces partido de estado PRI (Partido Revolucionario Institucional). El museo sintetiza el centralismo político del régimen, el neo-evolucionismo de los arqueólogos y la historia mítica azteca-mexica. Mientras que el primer piso celebra las glorias del pasado prehispánico de México, el segundo piso muestra la etnografía de los grupos indígenas que “aún” sobreviven. Se entendía que la tarea de los etnólogos era “rescatar” lo valioso de estas tradiciones antes de que se asimilaran totalmente a la población mestiza mexicana. La historia de las civilizaciones prehispánicas es apropiada por el estado-nación, mientras que la capacidad de agencia de los pueblos indígenas actuales es totalmente negada. Sin embargo, un grupo de huicholes invierte la situación al apropiarse del monolito de la Coatlicue, a la que adoptaron como una de sus diosas ancestrales.

Книга Е. В. Платонова представляет собой первый опыт систематизации материалов по деревенским святыням в рамках регионального подхода. Автор собрал и каталогизировал сведения о деревенских часовнях — культовых постройках, интегрированных почти во все сферы жизни сельского населения (в церковный обиход, традиционную народную культуру и т. д.), но до сих пор весьма слабо изученных, — бывшего
Тихвинского уезда Новгородской губернии. Представленные в книге архивные и этнографические данные сопровождаются подробной аналитической статьей о феномене часовен, истории их возникновения
и функционирования, а также об их месте в системе коммуникаций и культурном ландшафте данного региона.
Издание адресовано историкам, этнографам, архитекторам, искусствоведам и всем интересующимся народной культурой.
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In the beginning of 18th century, in places distant from churches, all
religious services except liturgy were conducted in chapels — vespers, matins,
the hours and prayer services were sung; priests performed blessing of waters,
baptisms, weddings and funerals, received confessions; parishioners, especially
women, who could not leave their houses and go to church for the communion,
partook it from parish priests who came with the reserved Sacrament. Also
country folk brought their cattle with them so that priest could bless it by
sprinkling holy water. At the turn of 17–18th centuries chapel services included
all range of rites essential for the rustic people, which presented certain rivalry
to parish churches. No wonder that in first half of 18th century a lot of decrees
were issued to restrain off-church services as poorly controllable by authorities.
Removal of old chapels, alongside with prohibition of new constructions, was
legally initiated in 1707, 1722, 1734; but fulfilment of these decrees was rather
exception than rule. During 18–19th centuries most chapels were repaired and
built by peasants, landlords and priests without asking official permission for
construction works.
Only after 1865 legislative obstacles for chapels construction were reduced,
since when rustic chapels started to appear in great numbers. In the second
half of 19th century chapels were built not only by peasants themselves,
who copied designs conventional for their regions, but were projected by
professional architects. In Tikhvin uyezd such professional-projected chapels
are represented by single buildings; generally they are successors of national
architectural traditions of 17–18th centuries.
Unlike architectural typology, ethnographical typology of chapels is not
yet worked out, considering great diversity of these cult buildings’ concrete
functions. Because of a number of factors — such as absence of a specific consecration
office, of regulations concerning icons arrangement in a chapel,
chapels’ exclusion from regular part of annual, weekly and daily cycle of services
— they were driven onto the periphery of ecclesiastical life, became to
a certain degree a marginal phenomenon. Here we use provisional terms which
combine large groups of chapels according to their location and functions:
— village chapel — a chapel which is situated within the limits of a settlement
and serves as a local religious centre for the village community;
— chapel on zhalnik — a chapel situated on medieval archaeological
funeral complex (zhalnik) within or without the settlement boundary, whose
functioning is complicated by peculiar attitude towards zhalniks from rural
population of Russian Northwest;
— chapel on hallowed place — a chapel situated near hallowed stone or
spring, in sacred grove, on place of appearance of an icon or relics and presenting
a single complex with the hallowed object in ritual and folkloric plans;
— covenantial/votal chapel — a chapel which was built by vow or had
received votal functions later; built as a result of and to prevent in future a
sertain calamity (cattle pestilence, crop failure, plague etc.);
— graveyard chapel — a chapel built on territory of a functioning graveyard,
used mainly for ecclesiastical memorial services and for placing the deceased
before burial.
In attempt to systematize data on topographic location of hallowed objects
and cult buildings in settlements of Tikhvin uyezd we can define two basic
patterns which provisionally can be referred to as concentric and linear. The
concentric type in its spatial expression is rather simple: it is one single chapel
in settlement, regardless of its exact location. It could be village chapel, chapel
on zhalnik or chapel with hallowed natural object; in all cases it accumulates
all ritual activities of community around itself, being the only religious
center. The linear topographic type implies several hallowed objects: chapels,
stoloboks (posts with icons on them), or both, around settlement and within
its boundaries. Alongside with complication of topography ritual actions also
become more complicated; apart from functional delimitation of different
objects all hallowed places become occasionally united in celebrating of
covenantial or village feasts. This conjunction takes place when icon-bearing
processions are held (in these occasions value hierarchy of the objects reveals
itself), or during successive attendance of certain cult places; at another time
all these hallowed objects exist as discrete local sacred places with certain
properties and certain ritual usage assigned to them. According to our hypothesis,
linear type of neighbourhood setup goes back to medieval means of
cultural landscape arrangement, since it implies plurality and variability
of sacral markers. It reflects tendency for expansion of sacral space, which
gradually absorbs the non-hierarchical ordinary locuses and includes them
in a new, value-oriented structure. As long as it takes certain time to form a
linear system, the village neighbourhood’s saturation with sacral objects can
be considered as an indirect indication on relative antiquity of the settlement,
whereas concentric type is more characteristic for young villages. Their history
is not yet filled with events, including various calamities which bring about
appearance of separate covenantial chapels, and surrounding landscape stays
in a stage of recognition and consequently is not divided clearly enough into
sacred and evil places. As a most typical example of the linear scheme we can
point out villages where one chapel was situated within the settlement, i. e. it
was a village chapel, and another one was located on a zhalnik nearby. Village
and zhalnik chapels became basic chapel types, most widely spread on the
territory of Tikhvin uyezd, which is determined by historically formed cultural
landscape of eastern areas of Russian Northwest.

The Cyclades islands in the South Aegean initially attracted the attention of prehistorians approaching islands as ‘laboratories’ for the study of cultural development, examining the notions of ‘isolation’ and ‘connectivity’, or, more recently, by introducing new terminologies, such as ‘seascape’ and ‘islandscape’. The wealth of material remains of the post-medieval era in the Cyclades islands (e.g., ecclesiastical architecture, ceramics) and the textual record available (e.g., Ottoman tax registers, travellers’ accounts) provide fascinating evidence regarding the construction of sacred landscapes, self-expression, community, and maritime identities throughout the period of Ottoman domination. The main aim of this article is to examine the historical contingencies and the distribution of a vast number of rural churches, primarily as evidence for religious expression, in order to capture island dynamics and the formation of religious and community identities, as imprinted onto the sa...

This essay presents an account of Professor Rana P.B. Singh's academic contributions, professional growth and career, and academic recognition. He is wellknown as a leading academic figure in Indian geography. He has enriched the discipline of geography through his immense contributions, especially on cultural geography, from the perspective of an Indian academic. It will be fitting to say that Rana Singh brought to cultural geography what David Sopher (2009, first in 1973) called an Indian 'dweller's perception'. He is one of the very few geographers of India who have contributed to a multitude of cultural and socioeconomic aspects, ranging from villages to cities, visual to cosmology, and from theoretical construct to grassroot realities. Known to his colleagues, friends, followers, and admirers as 'Rana-ji', he has contributed not only to his parent discipline of Geography but also to the latter's sister disciplines, such as heritage studies, cultural landscape studiesand planning, ecotourism, pilgrimage studies, cultural astronomy and architectural symbolism, environmental ethics, humanism, rural land use and settlements through his numerous publications in India and abroad. Conceiving his resident holy-heritage city of Banaras/Varanasi as ‘complex whole’ and ‘axis mundi’ within the purview of archetypal symbolism, during the last four decades he studied and projected it in different contexts.
Keywords Cultural geography, pilgrimage studies, heritage, settlement geography, mandala, Sacred landscape, cultural astronomy

How did Calvinist travellers behave when they ventured into the lion’s den of Catholicism? Were Protestants on Grand Tour bound to ignore Popish sanctuaries, and – so it seemed – false relics, excessive processions, obscure rituals, and foolish idolatry or superstition? Did they mock or slander French or Italian Catholicism? According to textbook wisdom, these cross-confessional encounters on Grand Tour were seldom warm-hearted. Drawing on well-known travelogues from English Grand Tour travellers these religious contacts are mainly cast in black-and-white. Anglican noblemen and officials were envisaged as merciless critics of Italian Catholicism, seizing every opportunity to denounce the foulest popish defects. Using a body of unpublished travel books from the Netherlands, this paper tries to refine (or reconsider) this traditional conflict hypothesis. Despite profuse anti-popish propaganda in pamphlets, popular songs, and weekly sermons Dutch burghers seemed to behave rather ecumenically on their journey through France, showing a lively interest, restrained respect or leniency towards Catholic ceremony, sacred objects and Popish sanctuaries. It will be argued that this broad-mindedness was triggered by practical considerations and a strong humanist imperative. Our aim, however, is to take the discussion somewhat further, as Dutch reformed travellers seemed to invent their own sort of pilgrimage in the early seventeenth century. La Rochelle, Charenton, Montauban, Geneva and other ‘hallowed’ places were soon integrated in the Dutch Grand Tour. Commemorating the Wars of Religion and Huguenot martyrdom, or personal religious deepening became part of the journey too.

The Mrtvalj spring is an integral part of a more complex sacred landscape, the center of which is the Shrine of St. John the Baptist located in Podmilačje near Jajce, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The shrine is a multi-confessional pilgrimage destination that is also very popular within the wider region. The Mrtvalj spring is one of the key stops in pilgrimage itineraries, but it is not only a sacred place within pilgrimage practices. In this paper the conceptualization of the Mrtvalj spring's sacredness is examined as a reflection of the relationship between the religious and the political. The author analyzes the relationship between the shrine's politics, which are based on the ideas of a "Bosnian Lourdes" and a shared shrine, and the spring as a focal point for the shared non-institutional practices of believers of various religious affiliations. She aims to show that a shared sacred site does not necessarily have to be controversial, and calls for a revalorization of non-institutional religiosity, which has proved to be a rich phenomenon for the study of interreligious relations.

Sustainable tourism is influenced by the dimension of heritage (cultural/natural), including community, basic infrastructure, visitor, administration, and enterprises, and other related issues. In a way, tourism and cultural heritage are interrelated to each other. The Indian twin city of Ayodhya-Faizabad consists of the places of cultural heritage. Ayodhya is famous for pilgrimage, salvific quality, and holy tradition of Hindus. Of course, it is scared and religious place for Hindus, where also exists religious sites of Muslims, Jains, Buddhists, and Sikhs. Like other holy cities, Ayodhya too enumerates unique and variety of cultural heritagescapes, like tradition, faith, festivities, pilgrimages, folklore, custom, artefacts, historical building monuments, and other tangible and intangible cultural heritage that attract the tourists. Since 1992 Ayodhya has been suffered from the religious contestation, as exemplified by Babari mosque and Ramajanmabhumi temple; such type of contradiction obstacles the tourism development, however pilgrimage-tourism has been the main force in the city.
Keywords: pilgrimage, heritagescapes, festivities, tangible and intangible heritage, salvific place.

Culture is central to human beings to the extent that the history of their evolution is incomplete without the consideration of cultural attainments across time and space. However, in the domain of geography as a discipline, its conceptualisation and place do not appear clear. The sub-discipline of cultural geography having its roots in late 19th century both in the German and the French traditions, grew and got recognition through the works undertaken by the American geographers, particularly the tradition established by Carl Sauer and his students. No matter whether culture and cultural issues were at margins or centre stage, all through the journey they remained contested. Today, it is a well recognised discipline and rich through scholarly contributions from different perspectives benefitted by the development taken place in the allied disciplines. Indian geography presents a good example wherein cultural geography could not acquire substantive status despite having tremendous scope given the cultural richness of this land. It remains a marginal sub-discipline in Indian geography even in the 21s century; of course, the works of some practicing Indian geographers have acclaimed international repute, but their number is miniscule. The present chapter is an attempt in short to trace cultural geography’s journey vis-à-vis the Indian scenario and to introduce the contents of the volume.
Keywords: Culture, cultural geography, cultural turn, new cultural geography, landscape, heritage, religion, pilgrimage, tourism.

Continuity & Change in Local Religions. The civitas Vangionum is situated in eastern Gaul, in what would become the province of Germania Superior in the 1st century AD. This study analyses the religious activities of this civitas - between Rhine and Nahe, roughly covering the regions of Rheinhessen and Nordpfalz between Worms and Landstuhl. Though seemingly Roman in style, we see particular artistic styles that are rather "non-Roman" in nature, and also show some similarities with regions like Metz.  On the other hand, we also see a strong focus on the new urban landscape of the region and the major lines of communication.

Conservation of nature and natural resources has been a much challenging task in the present state of affairs where economy prevails over ecology. International treaties and conventions are signed and policies, laws and Acts have been enacted by the countries across the world, however, hostilities remain while applying the protected area policies which largely deprive indigenous communities from their traditional rights. It hurts their feelings and hence changes their behaviour, which impacts the objective, negatively. Historically, religion being a product of feelings and beliefs has been used as a powerful tool for nature conservation. Making age-old religious entities such as sacred landscapes, sacred groves and sacred species by various cultural groups are the live manifestations of historical, cultural and emotional attachment of human beings with nature and natural resources. The philosophy of religion can continue to be used as a powerful tool for mitigating negative impacts of current anthropogenic pressures on the nature and its resources. With this background, the present review aims to analyse various practices of nature and natural resource conservation as embedded in the religions.

These Tables and Charts (82-pp.) of various Pilgrimage Routes (Yatras) of Banaras/Kashi/ Varanasi are systematically arranged according to the puranic (ancient religious literature) description while identifying their location (with area, neighbourhood and house numbers). This is for the first time that all the major deities, images, temples and shrines are located with full identification, along with the list of the unidentified ones but refereed into the Skanda Purana – Kashi Khanda. This covers List of all the 84 Ganga Riverfront Ghats and their associated Jala Tirthas (sacred water sites), and all the 29 Yatras (pilgrimage circuits) -  Goddesses on the Cosmic circuit, Panchakroshi, Vishveshvara Antargrihi, Nagar Pradakshina, Avimukta, Kedar Khanda, Omkareshvara Khanda, Jyotir Lingas, Svayambhu Lingas, Uttrardik Yatra, Dakshindik Yatra, Ashtayatana, Chaturdash Ayatana, Vishveshvara Lingatmak, Ekadash Rudra, Bhairava, Sapta Rishi, Surya (Sun god), Vara (week days) and Nava Graha, Masika, Sapta-ritu (seasons), Devi Yatra, 56 Vinayakas, Pancha Vinayakas, Panchamrit Vinayaka, Ashtapradhana Vinayaka, other Vinayakas, Vishnu Yatra, Vasu Yatra, and Mahakupa Yatra.
Singh, Rana P.B. 2009. Banaras, the Heritage City of India: Geography, History, and Bibliography. Also, historical chart, a list of 1100 shrines and divinities and their locations, and Hindu Festivals, 2006-15. Pilgrimage and Cosmology Series: 8. 22 x 15cm, 456 pp.; 13 statistical tables, 32 figures; 1276 entries. Indica Books, Varanasi. ISBN: 81-86569-85-5.

􏰐􏱄􏰵 􏱢􏰴􏱃􏱂 􏰛􏱑􏰽􏱁􏰷􏰺 􏰸􏰽􏰺􏱗􏱐􏰵􏱃􏱂 􏰽􏰺 􏰣􏰴􏰵􏱂􏰵 􏰾􏰷􏱃 􏱂􏱄􏰵 􏰸􏱅􏱂􏱌 􏰽􏰶 Khania in 1645, previously under Venetian rule. This chapter looks at how these conquerors, arriving with a 􏰻􏱅􏱣􏰵􏰴􏰵􏰺􏱂 􏰴􏰵􏰿􏱅􏱀􏱅􏰽􏰺 􏰷􏰺􏰻 􏰸􏱐􏰿􏱂􏱐􏰴􏰵􏱔 􏱃􏰵􏰿􏰵􏰸􏱂􏱅􏱚􏰵􏰿􏱌 􏱂􏰴􏰷􏰺􏱃􏰶􏰽􏰴􏱁􏰵􏰻 the sacred landscape of Khania. In the immediate aftermath of the conquest, there was only one new build, in a conspicuous position on the harbour; 􏰽􏱂􏱄􏰵􏰴􏰾􏱅􏱃􏰵 􏱂􏱄􏰵 mainly of Catholic (rather than Orthodox) churches into mosques, with a major focus on those in the 􏰵􏰷􏱃􏱂􏰵􏰴􏰺 􏱉􏰷􏰴􏱂 􏰽􏰶 􏱂􏱄􏰵 􏰸􏱅􏱂􏱌􏱆 􏰐􏱄􏰵 􏰛􏱑􏰽􏱁􏰷􏰺 􏰷􏱉􏱉􏰴􏰽􏰷􏰸􏱄 􏱂􏰽 this sacred landscape, as with their administration 􏰽􏰶 􏰣􏰴􏰵􏱂􏰵􏱔  (heavy investment in both sacred landscape and administration). Nonetheless, as seen through their treatment of the sacred landscape of Khania, the 􏰛􏱑􏰽􏱁􏰷􏰺 Ottoman chronology of desire was very clear, to show 􏰻􏰵􏱃􏱅􏰴􏰵 􏱃􏱄 that the defeated Catholic Venetians were already 􏰸􏰽􏰺􏱃􏱅􏱀􏰺􏰵􏰻 consigned to  the past, while the􏱂􏰽  Ottoman Muslims 􏱂􏱄􏰵 􏰛􏱑􏰽􏱁􏰷􏰺 􏰧􏱐􏱃􏰿represented a new present and future. The chapter ends with two prospects for further research, relating 􏱂􏰽 􏱉􏰴􏰽􏰸􏰵􏱃􏰽􏰶to processes of Ottomanisation (in the wider Cretan landscape), and de-Ottomanisation ( of cities in Crete, and elsewhere). 􏰾􏱅􏰻􏰵􏰴 􏰣􏰴􏰵􏱂􏰷􏰺 􏰿􏰷􏰺􏰻􏱃􏰸􏰷􏱉􏰵􏱕 􏰷􏰺􏰻 􏰻􏰵􏱍􏰛􏱑􏰽􏱁􏰷􏰺􏱅􏱃􏰷􏱂􏱅􏰽􏰺 􏱒􏰽􏰶 􏰸􏱅􏱂􏱅􏰵􏱃 􏱅􏰺

Recent debate over the expansion of a ski resort on the San Francisco Peaks, one of four Navajo sacred mountains, requires an ethnographic analysis of Navajo concerns with artificial snowmaking. Other research has mainly focused on the legal aspects of this conflict without examining the core cultural concepts which have led Navajo to label the artificial snow as “desecration”. This oral presentation helps situate anti-snowmaking sentiments in Navajo concepts of sacredness. It is based on research done June through August, 2009 in Leupp, Arizona. Semi-structured and informal interviews were used to explore the connection between traditional Navajo beliefs regarding the San Francisco Peaks and perceptions of the impact of artificial snowmaking. The Navajo believe that this mountain is sacred due to its role in the ceremonial system, and because the Peaks are a place of Deities, sacred animals, important medicinal plants, and personified life. Part of their strong emotional and spiritual connection with the Peaks is a felt duty to respect the Mountain by leaving it in a natural condition. Community members oppose snowmaking in part because it is seen as an unnatural force which will damage the sacred aspects of this Mountain. Specifically, snowmaking will cause damage to the Deities, ceremonial usage, medicinal plants, and animal habitat provided by this Sacred Mountain. Snowmaking is “matter out of place” that violates a relationship that the Navajo have with the Peaks which inherently protects the sacred qualities of the mountain from destruction. This has important implications for federal management of this sacred land, and also for anthropological theories of sacred space among the Navajo.

At least a dozen biblical toponyms for sites and landscape features in ancient Judah’s highlands bear divine name elements that were most common during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. In light of archaeological evidence from many of these sites, it is suggested that they were first settled as part of a settlement influx in the highlands during the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000–1550 BCE), following a reemergence of urbanism and a return of economic development that occurred under Amorite aegis. The cultic orientation of these sites may be suggested by reference to ritual traditions at Mari during the Middle Bronze Age but especially Ugarit during the Late Bronze Age. Such evidence may also serve to elucidate the various enduring cultic associations that persisted in connection with these locations during the Iron Age, as preserved in various
biblical traditions.

The paper focuses on one of the most sacred mountains of Tibet, A-myes-rma-chen, located in east Tibet (contemporary mGo-log Prefecture, Qinghai Province, People's Republic of China). It deals mainly with two topics: the ongoing vivid revitalisation of the cult of the mountain and its deity since the Cultural Revolution, and how this interacts with the current changes at the site due to state-planned modernisation and development within the 'Great Development of the West' (Xibu da kaifa) strategy extensively implemented since the beginning of the twenty-first century. Particular attention is paid to the recent great circumambulation pilgrimage to A-myes-rma-chen, performed once every 12 years in a Horse Year, which took place in 2014/15, in the Horse Year 2143 of the Tibetan calendar. The article shows the present form of the pilgrimage, its reflection of and accustomisation to these changes, and the resulting quick transformation of the institution of pilgrimage. Pilgrims' and local people's understandings and views, alterations and modifications of their behaviour and pilgrimage practice, as well as actual reactions, are discussed. The article argues that the site of A-myes-rma-chen is currently being reinterpreted by the state in a secularised, commodifying and territorialising discourse in order to incorporate the area more closely, both politically and culturally. A-myes-rma-chen thus represents a space contested by different cultural and interest groups.
https://brill.com/view/journals/inas/21/2/inas.21.issue-2.xml

Most of the ancient cultures, especially the Asians in the ancient past ordered the natural world on cosmological principles and shaped harmonious relation with nature. Mountains and springs, plains and rivers, were sites and channels of sacred power from historical events and timeless sacred forces. And, geographical features were inscribed by human hands to mark their sacredness in the frame of built structures. Such natural and constructed places commonly became centres of religious heritage and pilgrimage, serving as pivot of harmonizing the world through their inherent message and underpinning meanings. That is how they require special care for understanding and planning. A heritage resource that can contribute to maintain environment and landscape serene in its nature, cleanliness in outlook, aesthetically beautiful, ecofriendly in interrelationship, socially cohesive, culturally awakened in order to make Man-Nature integration and aliveness more sustainable, the ACLA (Asian Cultural Landscape Association) has been formed recently on 3rd of December 2012. The ACLA shall highlight the 'Cultural Landscapes as Living Cultural-Sustainable Resources'; foster the safeguard and sustainable use of the unique and diverse cultural landscapes and heritagescapes of Asian Region; promote the physical, natural and cultural heritagescapes, traditions, crafts and creativity as driving forces for overall sustainable landscape development. Cultural landscapes ranging from cultivated terraces on lofty mountains, gardens, to sacred places testify to the creative genius, social development and the imaginative and spiritual vitality of humanity. Cultural Landscape is a " Design with Nature for Humankind ". This way 'cultural landscapes' represent visionary symbiosis and interpretive synthesis. As established notion " cultural landscapes " inspired by the belief that preservation and protection of globally, nationally, regionally and locally significant cultural landscapes, both designed and vernacular, are critical to sustaining the continuum of land use and history across generations. Therefore, protection of these cultural landscape resources offers inspirational values and an appreciation of past and present ingenuity, accomplishments, hardships, and hopes, as well as insight into future land use, design solutions and maintenance of heritagescapes. The varieties and distinct sacredscapes and cultural landscapes of Asia are projected here in the frame of unitary principles and commonality that can help framing the Asian Vision of harmonising the world.
Keywords:  Asian vision, Cultural landscapes, Sacred sites, Sacredscapes, harmonising.