About Book
This book, consisting of ten essays, and annotated list of important 108 pilgrimage places, deals with deeper awareness and understanding of the complexities and subtleties of pilgrimage in the contexts of the mythology, history, system, structure and functioning of Hindu pilgrimages and Sacred Space in India, and illustrated with case studies of Shaktipithas, Chitrakut, Varanasi, Gaya, Vindhyachal, Mathura, Kumbha Mela, while emphasising the textual traditions, historical outline, contemporary pilgrimage tourism, issues of contestations and seduction of history, sacred geometry and cosmic order, and use of SOC theory. This is the first full book of its kind and to be used as the major reference and text; and will open new directions of understanding in pilgrimage studies.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Foreword by Robert H. Stoddard (USA): 1-4; Preface and Acknowledgements: 5-6; Studies of Hindu Pilgrimages: Emerging Trends and Bibliography: 7-48; Hindu Pilgrimage: History, Mythology and Present Concerns: 49-78; Sacredscapes & Pilgrimage System: Some Reflections: 79-120; The 51 Shaktipithas (Goddesses) and Sacred places: 121-158; The Ganga River: Images, Sacrality and Salvific Places: 159-194; Hindu Places of Pilgrimage: Communitas and Contestation: 195-244; Interfaces in Pilgrimage Landscape: Sacrality and Spatial Geometry: 245-278; Cosmic Ordering and Self Organisation among Sacred Cities: 279-304; Pilgrimage-Tourism in the Hindu Tradition: Perspectives and Vision: 305-332; Green Pilgrimage Initiatives 333-368; Gazetteer of Hindu Pilgrimages Places (108) in India: 369-390; Index: 391-399; the author: 400.
About Author
Rana P.B. Singh is Professor & Head, Dept. of Geography, Banaras Hindu University, and pioneer in Cultural Geography and Heritage Studies, has published extensively on pilgrimage studies, heritage planning, Hindu thought, sacred geography and cultural astronomy.