scholarly journals Geological dimension of the cultural heritage: A case example of the Ajanta Caves (Maharashtra, India)

Author(s):  
Elena F. Gontareva ◽  
Mohd Khalid Ansari ◽  
Dmitry A. Ruban ◽  
Mashud Ahmad ◽  
Trilok Nath Singh

International development for the both geoconservation and geotourism requires attention to all kinds of (potential) geological heritage. The Ajanta Caves (western Maharashtra, India) is a famous cultural object consisting of 30 caves carved in the Deccan Traps and inscribed to the UNESCO list of the World Heritage Sites. Its examination permits to indicate four geological features, which are the artificial caves themselves (these mark geological activity of the man in the historical past), the end-Cretaceous floot basalts (these demonstrate the emplacement of Large Igneous Province and the relevant palaeoenvironmental catastrophe), the gorge of the Waghora River  (this  is peculiar landform resulted from the river erosion of hard rocks), and the rockfall hazard (this is an interesting engineering geological phenomenon linked to the caves construction/maintenance). Geological heritage value of these features is argued. Unfortunately, there is not any geotourism activity at the Ajanta Caves presently. The content analysis of the principal on-line resources (web pages) devoted to this cultural site reveals the absence of sufficient geological information that would facilitate geotourism. Generally, judgements about the Ajanta Caves and the other similar sites in the geological dimension permit to consider the wide spectrum of the geological heritage. They also highlight some extra opportunities for geotourism, which can benefit by its development at cultural sites with thousands of visitors.

Author(s):  
Deepak Chhabra

This chapter revisits the author's earlier findings that scrutinized online marketing strategies employed by the world heritage sites (WHS) based on a predetermined set of sustainability indicators. Recent data shows that, for the most part, the WHS continue to lack behind in sustainable initiatives to promote their sites in a responsible manner. Only slight improvement is noted in terms of efforts to seek host community views on how the local heritage should be showcased and the manner on which culturally appropriate representations can be promoted. In the light of unexpected decreased visitation levels at most of the WHS, as reported by literature, a retro brand marketing strategy is suggested which strives to marry the rich historical past of the sites with the present need. A smart sustainable marketing agenda is proposed to improve brand equity and facilitate coordination between different stakeholders of the heritage sites and to attract increased visitations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-173

Sarmizegetusa Regia was included, together with the other five Dacian fortresses, on the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1999. They are a unique synthesis of external cultural influences and local traditions in terms of building techniques and overall, in the ancient military architecture, representing the grand expression of the civilisation of the Dacian Kingdom. These fortresses are the accurate expression of the exceptional development level of the Dacian civilisation, Sarmizegetusa Regia lying at the forefront of this fortified complex, epitomizing the evolution phenomenon from fortified centres to proto-urban agglomerations. As such, promoting these monuments and the numerous artefacts discovered by modern methods and techniques should become a priority. This paper presents a series of last generation applications and equipment that may be successfully used in promoting cultural heritage. Case studies include scanned artefacts and 3D reconstructions of the monuments in the site of Sarmizegetusa Regia, a monument on the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites together with the other five Dacian fortresses (Bănița, Costești-Blidaru, Costești-Cetățuie, Piatra Roșie and Căpâlna). We present here the results obtained following the use of several hardware tracking systems, augmented virtual reality applications and haptic devices. One of the important aspects, when attempting to make enhanced on-line use of heritage good is the extent to which it is accessible and reusable by various categories of users, either specialists or the general public. Digitalizing a good in the cultural heritage is the first step for ensuring the broad access via the on-line medium, the quality of this process ensuring the electronic format artefact legitimacy and credibility, which means that it should be an electronic duplicate truthful to the real artefact.


2019 ◽  
pp. 207-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepak Chhabra

This chapter revisits the author's earlier findings that scrutinized online marketing strategies employed by the world heritage sites (WHS) based on a predetermined set of sustainability indicators. Recent data shows that, for the most part, the WHS continue to lack behind in sustainable initiatives to promote their sites in a responsible manner. Only slight improvement is noted in terms of efforts to seek host community views on how the local heritage should be showcased and the manner on which culturally appropriate representations can be promoted. In the light of unexpected decreased visitation levels at most of the WHS, as reported by literature, a retro brand marketing strategy is suggested which strives to marry the rich historical past of the sites with the present need. A smart sustainable marketing agenda is proposed to improve brand equity and facilitate coordination between different stakeholders of the heritage sites and to attract increased visitations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (24) ◽  
pp. 8930
Author(s):  
Akira Sasaki ◽  
Fu Xiang ◽  
Rina Hayashi ◽  
Yuko Hiramatsu ◽  
Kazutaka Ueda ◽  
...  

We have been studying a sightseeing support application using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons and mobile phones since 2014 to support sightseeing in Nikko, one of Japan’s World Heritage sites. Travelers can receive information relating to their position by using this application. We tried to use some psychological effects to increase travelers’ satisfaction when they receive such information. Moreover, we tried to emphasize travel memories of the place (scenery, culture, food, etc.) to encourage them to revisit or inspire their friends to visit it. Our tests prove the usefulness of our sightseeing support application for enhancing the travel experience. However, we had not yet developed a function to provide information that met the travelers’ intentions or needs. Moreover, it is hazardous to use a smartphone during walking, especially in an unfamiliar place. If a traveler uses a smartphone during walking, they might miss the beautiful scenery, historic buildings, and exotic atmosphere. We tried to adapt our sightseeing support application for use with a wearable device (smartwatch) to avoid using a smartphone during walking and introduced a prospect theory to evaluate information according to personal interest and behavior. Our experiments proved that our application provided the most appropriate sightseeing information to travelers and prevented danger during walking.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Forryan ◽  
Alberto C. Naveira Garabato ◽  
Clément Vic ◽  
A. J. George Nurser ◽  
Alexander R. Hearn

AbstractThe Galápagos archipelago, rising from the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean some 900 km off the South American mainland, hosts an iconic and globally significant biological hotspot. The islands are renowned for their unique wealth of endemic species, which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and today underpins one of the largest UNESCO World Heritage Sites and Marine Reserves on Earth. The regional ecosystem is sustained by strongly seasonal oceanic upwelling events—upward surges of cool, nutrient-rich deep waters that fuel the growth of the phytoplankton upon which the entire ecosystem thrives. Yet despite its critical life-supporting role, the upwelling’s controlling factors remain undetermined. Here, we use a realistic model of the regional ocean circulation to show that the intensity of upwelling is governed by local northward winds, which generate vigorous submesoscale circulations at upper-ocean fronts to the west of the islands. These submesoscale flows drive upwelling of interior waters into the surface mixed layer. Our findings thus demonstrate that Galápagos upwelling is controlled by highly localized atmosphere–ocean interactions, and call for a focus on these processes in assessing and mitigating the regional ecosystem’s vulnerability to 21st-century climate change.


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