Sacred Sites and Sacred Stories Across Cultures : Transmission of Oral Tradition, Myth, and Religiosity

This book offers global perspectives from Mediterranean, Asian, Australian, and American cultures on sacred sites and their related stories in regional history. Contemporary society witnesses many travelers visiting sacred sites (temples, mountains, castles, churches, houses) throughout the world. These visits often involve discovery of new historical facts through the origin stories of the associated tribe, region, or nation. The transmission of oral tradition and myth carries on the significant meaning of those religious sites. This volume unveils multi-angle perspectives of symbolic and mystical places. The contributors describe the religio-political experiences of each regional case, and analyze the religiosity of local people as a lens through which readers can re-examine the concept of iconography, syncretism, and materialism. In addition, contributors interpret the growth of new religions as the alternative perspectives of anti-traditional religions. This new approach offers significant insight into comprehending the practical agony and sorrow of regional people in the context of contemporary history. Preface 6 Acknowledgements 8 Contents 10 Notes on Contributors 13 List of Figures 20 List of Tables 23 Chapter 1: Introduction 24 Part I: Visual Arts and Architecture 31 Chapter 2: Traces of Places: Sacred Sites in Miniature on Minoan Gold Rings 32 Introduction 32 Peak Sanctuaries 33 Rural Sanctuaries 36 Cave Sanctuaries 36 Landscape Features in Palatial Architecture 37 Sacred Sites in Iconography 38 Cult in Glyptic 40 Trees in Rocky Ground 40 Cult Structures 42 Sanctuary Walls 42 Columnar Shrines 45 Ashlar Altars 48 Tripartite Shrines 48 Constructed Openwork Platforms 50 Incurved Altars 52 Table Altars 52 Altars with Horns 54 Conclusion 55 References 56 Chapter 3: Reimagining Sacrosanct Sites in the Graphic Arts of Kōno Fumiyo 62 Introduction 62 Dissociating Hiroshima/Nagasaki: Towards a Genealogy of A-bomb Manga 64 Kōno Fumiyo: Breaking the Hegemony of Silence 68 Shifting Perspectives in In This Corner Of The World 70 Shōjo Manga and the Feminisation of Japan’s War Legacy 72 Parody, Criticism and In This Corner Of The World as Counter-Memorial Site 79 Conclusion 83 References 84 Chapter 4: Consecrated Journeys: A Torres Strait Islander Space, Time Odyssey 88 Introduction 89 The Full Ritual Process: A Torres Strait Story 92 Ethno-Archaeological Research at Ne on Waier 95 Archaeology Research at Ne 99 Square A 102 Squares B and C 104 Discussion: Understanding the Full Ritual Process 106 Establishment of the Waiet Cult in ETS (Story Cycle 1) 106 Waiet’s Pathway in ETS (Story Cycle 2) 108 Waiet’s Pathway Across Torres Strait (Story Cycle 3) 108 Continuity of Practice, Continuity of Belief? 111 Stories Embedded in Place: Reassessing Ne as a Sacred Site 112 Conclusion 115 References 116 Chapter 5: Art and Cultural Heritage of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata: A View through the Terracotta Temples of Bishnupur, West Bengal 120 Introduction 120 Regional History and Narratives 123 Bishnupur Sacred Sites 127 Ras-mancha 131 Shyama Raya or Shyam-Rai Temple 132 Jor-Bangla or Kesta-Rai Temple 135 Madan Mohan Temple or Eka-ratna Temple 144 Radha-Vinod Temple 146 Conclusion 150 References 151 Part II: Pilgrimage and Tourism (Asia and New Age) 156 Chapter 6: Jiba: Returning Home for Tenrikyo Followers 157 Introduction 157 Sacred Place 158 Tenrikyo and Jiba 166 The Story of Origin 169 Miki Nakayama, the Foundress of Tenrikyo and Jiba 170 Ojibagaeri: Returning Home 171 Revitalising and Salvation 173 Conclusion 177 References 178 Chapter 7: Blurred Boundaries between Secular Memory and Sacred Space in Religious Tourism: Cases of Mormon and Unification Faiths 182 Introduction 182 Mormon Sacred Geography 187 Unification Historical Sites 195 The Dance of Sacred and Secular 200 Conclusion 204 References 206 Chapter 8: The Spiritual in the Mundane: The Poetry of the Shikoku O-Henro Pilgrimage 210 Introduction 210 The Shikoku Henro Pilgrimage 217 Getting Started as Pilgrim 221 Who Undertakes This Pilgrimage? 225 The Poetry of the Shikoku O-Henro 227 Celebration of Life 231 Pathways to Enlightenment 231 Emotional Landscape in the Physical Landscape 233 Belief, Companionship and Exhortations 235 Peace, Enlightenment and Transition 235 Yellow Prayer Flag Poems 236 Conclusion 238 References 239 Part III: Competition and Contestation 243 Chapter 9: Competition and Contestation at a Hindu-Muslim Shrine: The Case of the Sant Laldas in Mewat, North India 244 Introduction 244 Laldas and Historical Transformations 247 Religious Contestations around the Shared Sacred Spaces of Laldas 253 The Nature of Hindu-Muslim Relations in the First Half of Twentieth-Century Alwar 260 The Cult and Figure of Laldas: Neither a Hindu nor a Muslim 265 Representing Liminality: The Life of a Sādh 268 Disputes and the Nature of Religious Cultures of the Baniyas and the Meos 271 Conclusion 274 References 276 Chapter 10: Maitreya’s Boundless Gaze: The Religious Implications of Maitreya Mega-Statues 280 Introduction 280 Mega-Status as Monument: A Theoretical Context 281 A Typology 284 Maitreya in Buddhism 286 Maitreya Varied Careers 288 Maitreya’s Rebirth 291 Maitreya as Saviour 292 Budai 293 How Maitreya Functions Today 294 Patronage 294 Community 297 The Symbolic-Religious Functions 299 The Symbolic-Presence 301 Commodification—Religious Tourism 303 Conclusion 305 References 306 Part IV: Theory and Method 312 Chapter 11: Contemporary Creations and Re-cognitions of Sacred Sites 313 Introduction 313 Sacred Nature 314 Sacred Artefacts 317 Defending and Policing Disputed Boundaries 318 Multi-Level Sacredness 320 Permeability and Mobility 321 Sacralising Sites 322 Physical Bodies as Sacred Sites 322 Religious Bodies as Sacred Sites 323 Cosmic Sacred Sites 324 Global Sacred Sites 325 National Sacred Sites 326 Local Sacred Sites 328 Biological Sacred Sites 330 Ethnic Sacred Sites 331 Lineage Sacred Sites 333 Community Sacred Sites 333 Individual Sacred Sites 334 Internal Sacred Sites 334 Virtual Sacred Sites 335 Conclusion 337 References 337 Chapter 12: Is Sacred Site Discovered? Or Created?: A Case Study of Daesoon Jinrihoe 343 Introduction 343 Hierophany and Sacred Space of Daesoon Jinrihoe 345 Discovery of the Sacred Site: Various forms of Beliefs in Certain Sites 349 The Tradition of Feng Shui 349 Faith in Sites Hidden by Heaven and Belief of the Degree Number 355 Creation of the Sacred Site: Theory of the Consecration of the Sacred Sites 359 Faith in the Investiture of Gods 359 Conditions for Sacred Sites: The Realisation of Religious Norms 361 Ritual of Sacralisation of Sacred Site: The Devotional Offering of Enshrinement 364 Reproduction of Sacred Site 365 Conclusion 366 References 367 Chapter 13: Transformation of Admiral to the Sainthood and Sacred Stories of Chinese Sanctum Sanctorum from Malabar Coast 371 Introduction 371 Malabar-Chinese Relations 373 Nature of Malabar Port Towns 376 Search for Zheng He’s Shrine 380 Research Visit and Nercha Advertisement 382 Annual Nerchas in Honour of Sufi Saint 384 Admiral and Power of Number Seven 386 Cultural Legacies and Heritage 388 Conclusion 392 References 393 Index 397