Construction and Reconstruction of Sacred Space in Vārānasī

Numen ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Bakker
Keyword(s):  
Sacred Space ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Capital ◽  
Significant Discrepancy ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
The Town

AbstractIt is widely believed that Vārānasī (Benares) ranks among the oldest holy cities on earth. Archaeological and textual sources, however, begin only to testify to the construction of sacred space in the first millennium AD. A significant discrepancy is found between the archaeological data (mainly seals) and early textual sources belonging to the 5th to 8th centuries. While seals provide us with the names of temples that apparently were frequented by the ordinary pilgrim, the oldest Māhātmya text that has recently become available, three chapters of the ‘original’ Skandapurāna, depicts Vārānasī as a place of ascetics and yogis. The spheres of devotion and world-renouncing are further complicated in the 11th and 12th centuries, when Vārānasī is made the political capital of the Gāhadavāla dynasty. Inscriptions reveal yet another dimension of sacred space, that of state ritual. After the destruction of the town by the Muslim conquerors, a process of reconstruction sets in during the 13th and 14th centuries, resulting eventually in the sacred Vārānasī as we know it today.

Guest is God

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Drew Thomases
Keyword(s):  
Everyday Life ◽  
Sacred Space ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Northwestern India ◽  
Gathering Place ◽  
Short Time ◽  
The Town

This book is based on ethnographic fieldwork in Pushkar, a Hindu pilgrimage site in northwestern India whose population of 20,000 sees an influx of two million visitors each year. Since the 1970s, the town has also received considerable attention from international tourists, a group with distinctly hippie beginnings but that now includes visitors from a wide spectrum of social positions and religious affiliations. To locals, though, Pushkar is more than just a gathering place for pilgrims and tourists: it is where Brahma, the creator god, made his home; it is where pilgrims feel blessed to stay, if only for a short time; and it is where Hindus would feel lucky to be reborn, if only as an insect. In short, it is their paradise. But even paradise needs upkeep. Thus, on a daily basis the town’s locals, and especially those engaged in pilgrimage and tourism, work to make Pushkar paradise. The book explores this massive enterprise to build “heaven on earth,” paying particular attention to how the articulation of sacred space becomes entangled with economic changes brought on by globalization and tourism. As such, the author not only attends to how tourism affects everyday life in Pushkar but also to how Hindu ideas determine the nature of tourism there; the goal, then, is to show how religion and tourism can be mutually constitutive.

A Kingdom Cleared of Castles: the Role of the Castle in the Campaigns of Robert Bruce

2008 ◽  
Vol 87 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAVID CORNELL
Keyword(s):  
Political Power ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Capital ◽  
The North ◽  
Edward Ii ◽  
War Effort ◽  
The Military ◽  
Political Value

In 1314 the English-held castles of Roxburgh, Edinburgh and Stirling were seized and destroyed by Robert Bruce. This was the pinnacle of a policy by which Bruce systematically slighted the castles he seized in Scotland. The reign of Edward II has been seen as a period in which the military value of the castle was in decline and by analysing the role the castle played in the campaigns of Bruce it is possible to assess the importance a successful contemporary commander attached to the castle during this period. Bruce had first-hand experience of the castle at war and knew of its limitations. In 1306, however, he seized and garrisoned a number of castles preparing to use them for a specific purpose, but defeat in the field rendered them redundant. On his return in 1307 Bruce initiated a policy of destruction. Castles in the north of Scotland were slighted as they were the regional focus of the political power of his Scottish enemies, and militarily they were of little value to Bruce. In the Lowlands the first-rate castles of Scotland were destroyed precisely because they were so militarily powerful. Bruce recognised that these castles, used aggressively, were indispensable to the English war effort, and consequently he undertook a prolonged and expensive campaign to reduce them, a campaign which involved the tactic of both surprise assault and, more importantly, the set-piece siege. In 1314 the imminent English campaign led Bruce to launch an unprecedented offensive against the English-held castles of Roxburgh, Edinburgh and Stirling. These castles were subsequently slighted despite their inextricable association with the Scottish Crown. Bruce recognised that, unlike the English, he did not need to occupy castles in Scotland to fight the war. Although in Ireland a small number of castles were occupied, and Berwick was also garrisoned by Scottish troops, in northern England Bruce did not attempt to occupy English castles. Those which were seized were destroyed, an indication that Bruce never intended a conquest of Northumberland. Indeed Bruce never undertook a serious campaign aimed at the seizure of the first-rate castles of Northumberland despite their frequently perilous state. Instead he sought to gain political capital by threatening their loss and so placing enormous pressure on the English Crown. That the castle featured prominently in the campaigns of Bruce demonstrates it was not in decline. Bruce understood the continued military and political value of the castle, but he was able to exploit its inherent vulnerabilities in order to gain victory in war.

scholarly journals “Guardianes de la tradición” Resistencias al cambio político y socio-cultural del tardofranquismo y la Transición en Andalucía oriental = “Guardians of tradition”. Resistances to the political and socio cultural change during the late Francoism and the transition to democracy in Eastern Andalusia

2020 ◽  
pp. 344
Author(s):  
Gloria Román Ruiz
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
Social Groups ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
The Political ◽  
San Jose ◽  
Palabras Clave ◽  
The Sixties ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Town

Resumen: El artículo se interroga por la naturaleza y la intensidad de las resistencias que algunos grupos sociales plantearon al proceso de transformación política y socio-cultural que comenzó a finales de los años sesenta y se extendió a lo largo de los setenta. Presta atención a aquellos sujetos que alzaron su voz en defensa de la tradición y en contra de la modernidad, así como a la incidencia que tuvieron sus acciones y comportamientos de oposición sobre el proceso de democratización. En primer lugar, el texto se detiene en las acciones de resistencia protagonizadas por feligreses conservadores que abrigaban actitudes políticas aquiescentes con la dictadura y acudían a escuchar misa a una parroquia regentada por un cura progresista. En segundo lugar, atiende a las resistencias expresadas por la comunidad parroquial de la iglesia de San José de Estepona (Málaga) ante el proyecto para la instauración de un complejo nudista en la localidad en 1978.Palabras clave: tardofranquismo, transición, democratización, resistencias al cambio, conservadurismo.Abstract: The article wonders about the nature and the intensity of the resistances set in motion by some social groups against the process of political and socio-cultural transformation that began at the end of the sixties and extended throughout the seventies. It pays attention to those subjects who raised their voice in defence of the tradition and against the modernity, as well as to the impact of their actions and opposition behaviours on the process of democratization. In the first place, the paper deals with the actions of resistance activated by the conservative parishioners who had acquiescent political attitudes towards the dictatorship and who attended to a parish ruled by a progressive priest. Secondly, it focuses on the resistances expressed by the parochial community of the San José church (Estepona, Málaga) caused by a nudist project in the town in 1978.Keywords: late Francoism, transition to democracy, democratization, resistances to change, conservatism.

The Activity of the Cluj County Branch of the Romanian National Party in the Spring of 1920 as Reflected in the Newspaper Patria

2021 ◽  
pp. 45-63
Author(s):  
Marin Pop ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Political Capital ◽  
National Party ◽  
Old Kingdom ◽  
Parliamentary Elections ◽  
People's Party ◽  
Draft Resolution ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
The One

"This study aims to highlight the activity of the Cluj County Branch of the Romanian National Party (hereafter abbreviated as RNP) in the spring of 1920, covering the events from the fall of the government led by Alexandru Vaida–Voevod until the end of the parliamentary elections of May–June 1920. After the Great Union, the city of Cluj became the political capital of Transylvania, especially after the Ruling Council, which was the provisional executive body of Transylvania, moved its headquarters from Sibiu to Cluj. Iuliu Maniu, the President of the Ruling Council and of the R.N.P, who was elected at the Sibiu Conference of 9–10 August 1919, had settled in Cluj as well. Moreover, at the head of Cluj County Branch of the RNP were personalities with a rich history of struggle for the cause of National Liberation of the Romanians in Transylvania: Iuliu Coroianu, Emil Hațieganu, Aurel Socol, Sever Dan, Alexandru Rusu, Ioan Giurgiu, the Archpriest Ioan Pop of Morlaca, and the Priest‑Martyr Aurel Muntean from Huedin. After the dismissal of the Vaida government, the Central Executive Committee of the RNP convened a party congress for 24 April 1920, in Alba Iulia. Just before the congress, the Cluj County organization had started the election campaign. Meetings were organized in every town and village, aiming to elect representatives for the Congress in Alba Iulia. On 21 April 1920, a large assembly was held in Cluj, during which the deputies of Cluj presented their work in Parliament. Simultaneously, delegates were elected for the Congress of Alba Iulia. The RNP Congress adopted a draft resolution and the governing bodies were elected. Iuliu Maniu was re‑elected as President. Based on the decisions adopted at the Great National Assembly of Alba Iulia on 1 December 1918, he adopted a working program, which was summarized in thirteen chapters. During the electoral campaign of 1920 two major political groups became polar opposites: the one around the People’s Party, which was in power, and the parties that formed the Parliamentary Bloc and had governed before. On the list of candidates of the Cluj County Branch of the RNP we can mostly find the former MPs of the party, as well as those who had filled various leadership positions within the Ruling Council. Following the electoral process, despite all the efforts of the People’s Party, in power at that time – especially those of Octavian Goga – to dispel the propaganda conducted by the RNP, the latter party managed to obtain 27 seats in the House and 14 in the Senate. This placed the RNP in second place among Romania’s political parties. The Cluj County Branch of the RNP was able to win two of the five electoral districts in the Chamber, as well as two in the Senate, out of the three allocated to the county. Another conclusion would be that, starting from these parliamentary elections, more and more parties from the Old Kingdom penetrated into Transylvania and Banat. They would achieve some success with the voters only when they came to hold power in the state and organize elections. Still, the RNP remained the party with the largest grip on the electorate of Transylvania and Banat, and Cluj became the political capital of Transylvania."

The 373 B.C. Helike (Gulf of Corinth, Greece) Earthquake and Tsunami, Revisited

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stathis C. Stiros
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Total Loss ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Gulf Of Corinth ◽  
Tectonically Active ◽  
City States ◽  
The Town ◽  
Archaeological Excavations ◽  
Ancient Texts

Abstract Ancient authors report the destruction and drowning in 373 B.C. in the Gulf of Corinth (Greece) of Helike (Helice and Eliki), an important, nearly coastal town, and of Boura (Bura, Buris, Bouris, and Voura), another town in the hinterland, as a punishment by the ancient God Poseidon because of a serious crime committed in his shrine. This narrative has been regarded as a description of a true event, though with some exaggerations, and the 373 B.C. event is included in earthquake and tsunami catalogs. In the first part of this article, it is shown that (1) local natural hazards exclude the possibility (risk) of total loss of the ancient “polis” (town state) of ancient Helike because of its vulnerability due to its geography. (2) Systematic geoarchaeological studies confirm this prediction because they reveal essentially undisturbed archaeological layers predating and postdating 373 B.C., with no signs of a tsunami. (3) Archaeological excavations have recently brought to light, among other findings, remains of the harbor of Boura and of the shrine of Poseidon at Helike, as well as coins issued by Helike several decades after its alleged loss. This evidence permits a reconsideration of ancient texts related to the loss of Helike in a supervised learning-type approach. It was found that genuine ancient Greek texts do not mention any catastrophe of Helike, but rather that the legend of its total loss appeared several centuries later in Roman times, in local legends, rumors, and forged or manipulated ancient texts (e.g., by pseudo-Aristotle). The ancient legend became important because it explained the collapse of the town state of Helike and it fit ancient religious ideas in a tectonically active region because of the rapid burial (“disappearance”) of ancient Greek remains under sediments in a young delta and because of the prominent location of Helike in the seafaring route between Rome and the eastern Mediterranean. For earthquakes before our era, historical and archaeological data have attracted interpretations… attributing to earthquakes… the demise of flourishing city-states. …The reason for the revival of catastrophe hypotheses is perhaps that they are easy to explain. They are too simple, too obvious and too coincidental and chiefly because they have become fashionable in recent years. (Ambraseys, 2006)

Etruscan Orientalization

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-104
Author(s):  
Jessica Nowlin
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Change ◽  
The Political ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Political Movements ◽  
Cultural Interaction ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
East And West

Abstract The terms ‘orientalizing’ and ‘orientalization’ have been employed to describe an art historical style, historical period, and process of cultural interaction between East and West within the early first-millennium BCE Mediterranean. With particular focus on Etruria and Italy, this historiography explores the Orientalist framework at the heart of ‘orientalizing’ terms while outlining how modern political movements and ideologies of nationalism and colonialism have influenced interpretations of ‘orientalizing.’ By showing the political viewpoints underlying the origins of the term and the ways in which these positions have continued to shape modern interpretations of the effects of eastern imported objects, ideas, and practices in Etruria, this work argues that the term ‘orientalizing’ should no longer be used. Instead, the period should be fit into existing chronological periodizations, and the process of cultural change should be interrogated outside of an Orientalist discourse.

Bigots or Patriots? The Political and Religious Allegiances of the Liverpool Ships' Carpenters, 1815-1851

1992 ◽  
pp. 203-244
Author(s):  
Frank Neal
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
The Political ◽  
Place Of Residence ◽  
Irish Catholics ◽  
The Town

By 1851 Liverpool was one of world's greatest seaports. With a population of 375,000 it was the second largest town in Britain outside of London. In addition to its prominence as a seaport, it was also the place of residence of over eighty-three thousand Irish-born persons, the majority Catholic, poor and unskilled. In that year, large-scale disturbances took place between Irish Catholics and Orangemen, as a result of which three people died. The town had already achieved a national notoriety as the scene of bitter disputes between Irish and English, and in the first half of the century the group of indigenous workers most prominent in the street warfare was the ships' carpenters. This paper sets out to describe that conflict and to offer some possible explanations of the phenomenon of these Tory working men....

Comunero Politics and the King’s Justice

2019 ◽  
pp. 145-166
Author(s):  
S. Elizabeth Penry
Keyword(s):  
Political Philosophy ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
The Political ◽  
The People ◽  
The Town

In 1774, a mob of commoner Andeans in one town in the viceroyalty of Peru attacked and killed their cacique, claiming that no person could be held responsible because the común, the community of commoners, had done it. The political theory was simple: if the cacique is good, he should be obeyed, but if he is a tyrant, if he does not serve justice, the people of the community have a right to overthrow him. A synthesis of pre-Columbian practices, religious teachings, and Spanish political philosophy, it was taught by officers in the cabildo and cofradías of the town. Also known as the rey común, Andeans defined it as “the ayllus together.” In testimony and written petitions, comuneros defended their right to overthrow their cacique, while professing loyalty to the Crown by paying tribute and serving mita. This idea of commoner self-government spread to other indigenous towns.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
S. Elizabeth Penry
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Political Legitimacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Religious Institutions ◽  
Common People ◽  
New Towns ◽  
The Common ◽  
Planned Towns ◽  
The Town ◽  
Over Time

In the sixteenth century, Spaniards forcibly resettled Andeans into planned towns called reducciones. Andeans adapted the political and religious institutions of the new towns, the cabildo (town council) and the cofradías (confraternities), and made them their own, organizing them by the Andean social form, the ayllu. Over time, political legitimacy and authority within towns was transferred from traditional native hereditary lords, the caciques, to the common people of the town, who called themselves the común. Although a Spanish word, común took on Andean meaning as it was the word used to translate terms for collective land and the collective people of a town. It became a recognized shorthand for a political philosophy empowering common people. In the late eighteenth-century era of Atlantic Revolutions, the común rose up against its caciques, in an Enlightenment-from-below moment of popular sovereignty.

Lineage and Kingship

2017 ◽  
pp. 163-235
Author(s):  
Ramin Jahanbegloo ◽  
Romila Thapar ◽  
Neeladri Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Indian Society ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Anthropology ◽  
Indian History ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Initial Work

In speaking about her initial work on the Mauryan king Ashoka, Romila Thapar discusses the juxtaposition between the ethical and the political in Indian history. In exploring the meaning of Buddhism for those times she argues for a notion of dissent being implicit in such philosophies that later came to be grouped together as the Shramana dharma in opposition to the Brahmana dharma. The aim of renouncers was to propagate and adopt an alternate kind of society more attuned to the well-being of all humans. She explains how she has used archaeological data and how she has also read and used some social anthropology. This has changed some of the new perspectives on early Indian society from those that were prevalent a few decades ago.

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