Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography"Dr. Bhardwaj's in-depth study of the various aspects of the institution of pilgrimage shows that instead of being a simple practice it has been a gigantic phenomenon affecting all aspects of Indian life. . . integrating diverse forces, various cults, and numerous traditions over the ages."--Asian Student "This is the best general survey of a major religion's total pilgrimage system and the best intensive investigation of one of its subsystems. . . . Dr. Bhardwaj's book is an important step towards the recognition of a social phenomenon which has for millennia played a crucial role in the integration of religions, nationalities, and international communities. And, not least importantly, it is highly readable."--Journal of the American Academy of Religion "Detailed, accurate, and generally informative; he has succeeded in tracing, for the first time, the relationship of the rank-order or 'level' of a sacred place. . . to its degree of sanctity, type of deity, and caste and motivation of the pilgrim. . . .The implications of Mr. Bhardwaj's study are profound and necessary to the understanding of Indian religion. . . it is fascinating."--Times Literary Supplement "Here is a fine example of what the geographic study of India needs: disciplined work that shows full awareness of Indian cultural meanings. . . .it sets a worth standard."--Professional Geographer |
Contents
INTRODUCTION | 1 |
A GENERAL SURVEY OF THE LITERATURE | 14 |
DISTRIBUTION OF HINDU PLACES | 29 |
A GRAND PILGRIMAGE OF INDIA | 43 |
SACRED PLACES ACCORDING TO | 58 |
THEIR RELATIVE IMPORTANCE | 80 |
PERCEPTION OF THE RANKS OF SACRED | 97 |
to Caste | 105 |
THE LEVEL OF SACRED PLACE AND | 148 |
56 | 156 |
73 | 187 |
PILGRIM INTERACTION AT SACRED | 216 |
SUMMARY OF CONCLUSIONS | 225 |
233 | |
75 | 240 |
249 | |
Other editions - View all
Hindu Places of Pilgrimage in India: A Study in Cultural Geography Surinder M. Bhardwaj Limited preview - 1983 |
Common terms and phrases
ancient Ardha Kumbha Aryan average distance Badrinath Baijnath Bhagsunag Bombay Brahmans Buddhist Calcutta caste composition Chintpurni COMPOSITION OF PILGRIMS cultivating castes cultural darśana deity Delhi Dharmaśālā diffusion diversity Dravidian epic example Figure Ganga Gaya Geography Gujarat Hardwar Haryana Himachal Pradesh Hindu Hinduism holy places important interviewed Jwalaji Kangra large number levels of sacred Mahābhārata Mansa Devi mercantile castes Mother Goddess Naina Devi Navarātrās of Caitra Number of Pilgrims number of sacred Origin of Pilgrims pan-Hindu pattern percent Percentage pilgrim field Pilgrim Register pilgrimage places of pilgrimage Prayaga priests proportion of pilgrims Punjab Purāņas purohits purposes of pilgrimage Rajputs ranks of sacred regional relationship Religion religious circulation religious literature Rewalsar ritual rivers sacred places sanctity Sanskrit scheduled castes scheduled-caste pilgrims Selected castes Shiv Bari shows Sikh Śiva social spatial specific subregional sukhnā supraregional temple tirthas tradition Ujjain Uttar Pradesh Vaisakhi Varanasi western Uttar Pradesh yātrā