Download or read book Banaras the City Revealed written by George Michell and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contributed articles on historic buildings of Varanasi city, Uttar Pradesh, India; with pictorial representation.

Download or read book Banaras written by Rana Singh and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-10-02 with total page 435 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Narrating the making of the Hindus’ most sacred and heritage city of India (Banaras) this book will serve as lead reference and insightful reading for understanding the cultural complexities, archetypal connotations, ritualscapes and vivid heritagescapes that maintain India’s pride of history and culture.

Download or read book Banaras Urban Forms and Cultural Histories written by Michael S. Dodson and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2021-01-31 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book presents a rich and surprising account of the recent history of the north Indian city of Banaras. Supplementing traditional accounts, which have focused upon the city’s religious imaginary, this volume brings together essays written by acknowledged experts in north Indian culture and history to examine the construction of diverse urban identities in, and after, the British colonial period. Drawing on fields such as archaeology, literature, history, and architecture, these accounts of Banaras understand the narratives which inscribe the city as having been forged substantially in the experiences of British rule. But while British rule transformed the city in many respects, the essays also emphasize the importance of Indian agency in these processes. The book also examines the essential ambiguity of modernization schemes in the city as well as the contingency of elements of religious narrative. The introduction, moreover, attempts to resituate Banaras into a wider tradition of urban studies in South Asia. The book will be of interest to not only scholars and students of north Indian culture and urban history, but also anyone looking to gain a deeper appreciation of this remarkable, and complex, city.

Download or read book Banaras Reconstructed written by Madhuri Desai and published by University of Washington Press. This book was released on 2017-06-27 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between the late sixteenth and early twentieth centuries, Banaras, the iconic Hindu center in northern India that is often described as the oldest living city in the world, was reconstructed materially as well as imaginatively, and embellished with temples, monasteries, mansions, and ghats (riverfront fortress-palaces). Banaras’s refurbished sacred landscape became the subject of pilgrimage maps and its spectacular riverfront was depicted in panoramas and described in travelogues. In Banaras Reconstructed, Madhuri Desai examines the confluences, as well as the tensions, that have shaped this complex and remarkable city. In so doing, she raises issues central to historical as well as contemporary Indian identity and delves into larger questions about religious urban environments in South Asia.

Download or read book Bureaucracy Belonging and the City in North India written by Michael S. Dodson and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-04-15 with total page 333 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a re-evaluation of modern urbanism and architecture and a history of urbanism, architecture, and local identity in colonial north India at the turn of the twentieth century. Focusing on Banaras and Jaunpur, two of northern India’s most traditional cities, the book examines the workings of colonial bureaucracy in the cities and argues that interactions with the colonial state were an integral aspect of the ways that Indians created a sense of their own personal investment in the city in which they lived. The book explores the every-day and the mundane to better understand the limits of British colonial power, and the role of Indians themselves, in the making of the modern city. Based on highly localized archival source material, the author analyses two key aspects of city-making in this era: the building of new infrastructure, such as water supply and sewerage, and new policies governing historical architectural conservation. The book also incorporates an ethnography of contemporary urban space in these cities to advocate for a more nuanced and responsible approach to writing the history of such cities and to address the myriad problems of present-day north Indian urbanism. Containing examples of bureaucratic procedure and its contradictions and enlivened by a set of personal reflections and narratives of the author's own experiences, this book is a valuable addition to the field of South Asian Studies, Asian History and Asian Culture and Society, Colonial History and Urban History.

Download or read book Spatial Diversity and Dynamics in Resources and Urban Development written by Ashok K. Dutt and published by Springer. This book was released on 2015-11-24 with total page 538 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This double-volume work focuses on socio-demographics and the use of such data to support strategic resource management and planning initiatives. Papers go beyond explanations of methods, technique and traditional applications to explore new intersections in the dynamic relationship between the utilization and management of resources, and urban development. International authors explore numerous experiences, characteristics of development and decision-making influences from across Asia and Southeast Asia, as well as recounting examples from America and Africa. Papers propound techniques and methods used in geographical research such as support vector machines, socio-economic correlates and travel behaviour analysis. In this volume the contributors examine cutting-edge theories explaining diversity and dynamics in urban development. Topics covered include human vulnerability to hazards, space and urban problematic, assessment and evaluation of regional urban systems and structures and urban transformations as a result of structural change, economic development and underdevelopment. The significance of these topics lie in the pace and volume of change as is happening in geography reflecting continued development within established fields of inquiry and the introduction of significantly new approaches during the last decade. Readers are invited to consider the dynamics of spatial expansion of urban areas and economic development, and to explore conceptual discussion of the innovations in and challenges on urbanization processes, urban spaces themselves and both resource management and environmental management. Together, the two volumes contribute to the interdisciplinary literature on regional resources and urban development by collating recent research with geography at its core. Scholars of urban geography, human geography, urbanism and sustainable development will be particularly interested in this book.

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook on Historic Urban Landscapes in the Asia Pacific written by Kapila Silva and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-12-23 with total page 755 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook on Historic Urban Landscapes in the Asia-Pacific sheds light onto the balancing act of urban heritage management, focusing specifically on the Asia-Pacific regions in which this challenge is imminent and in need of effective solutions. Urban heritage, while being threatened amid myriad forces of global and ecological change, provides a vital social, cultural, and economic asset for regeneration and sustenance of liveability of inhabited urban areas worldwide. This six-part volume takes a critical look at the concept of Historic Urban Landscapes, the approach that UNESCO promotes to achieve holistic management of urban heritage, through the lens of issues, prospects, and experiences of urban regeneration of the selected geo-cultural context. It further discusses the difficult task that heritage managers encounter in conceptualizing, mapping, curating, and sustaining the plurality, poetics, and politics of urban heritage of the regions in question. The connective thesis that weaves the chapters in this volume together reinforces for readers that the management of urban heritage considers cities as dynamic entities, palimpsests of historical memories, collages of social diversity, territories of contested identities, and sites for sustainable liveability. Throughout this edited collection, chapters argue for recognizing the totality of the eco-cultural urban fabric, embracing change, building social cohesion, and initiating strategic socio-economic progress in the conservation of Historic Urban Landscapes. Containing thirty-seven contributions written by leading regional experts, and illustrated with over 200 black and white images and tables, this volume provides a much-needed resource on Historic Urban Landscapes for students, scholars, and researchers.

Download or read book Practising Cultural Geographies written by Ravi S. Singh and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2022-05-20 with total page 599 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This festschrift honours Prof. Rana P.B. Singh who has dedicated his life to teaching and conducting research on cultural geography with a ‘dweller Indian perspective’. The book focuses on the cultural geographies of India, and to an extent that of South Asia. It is a rich collection of 23 essays on the themes apprised by him, covering landscapes, religion, heritage, pilgrimage and tourism, and human settlements.

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Hindu Temples written by Himanshu Prabha Ray and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-13 with total page 688 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This handbook is a comprehensive study of the archaeology, social history and the cultural landscape of the Hindu temple. Perhaps the most recognizable of the material forms of Hinduism, temples are lived, dynamic spaces. They are significant sites for the creation of cultural heritage, both in the past and in the present. Drawing on historiographical surveys and in-depth case studies, the volume centres the material form of the Hindu temple as an entry point to study its many adaptations and transformations from the early centuries CE to the 20th century. It highlights the vibrancy and dynamism of the shrine in different locales and studies the active participation of the community for its establishment, maintenance and survival. The illustrated handbook takes a unique approach by focusing on the social base of the temple rather than its aesthetics or chronological linear development. It fills a significant gap in the study of Hinduism and will be an indispensable resource for scholars of archaeology, Hinduism, Indian history, religious studies, museum studies, South Asian history and Southeast Asian history. Chapters 1, 4 and 5 of this book are available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. They have been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

Download or read book Cosmic Order and Cultural Astronomy written by Rana Singh and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-10-02 with total page 249 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout the Indian subcontinent there are territories and areas wherein culture, geography, and the archetypal cosmos interact with each other to create a sacredscape that is infused with meaning, cultural performances and transcendent power. These sacred sites possess extensive mythological associations where believed that spirit can cross between different realms. In a broad perspective such studies falls within the realm of cultural astronomy, which has two broad areas, viz. archaeoastronomy, concerned with the study of the use of astronomy and its role in ancient cultures and civilizations; and ethnoastronomy that studies the use of astronomy and its role in contemporary cultures. The seven essays in this volume deals with the critical appraisal of studying cultural astronomy and cosmic order and its implications in India, illustrated with case studies like heritagescape of Khajuraho, where stone speaks; manescape of Gaya, where manes come and bless the devotees; Deviscape of Vindhyachal, where goddess resorts; Shivascape of Kashi, where Shiva dances in making order; Shaktiscape of Kashi, that possesses the spatial ordering of goddesses; and Naturscape of Chitrakut, where mother earth blesses.

Download or read book Geographical Thoughts in India written by Rana Singh and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-05-27 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book deals with roots of Indian geographical thoughts with reference to its historical base, cultural context and visionary message. As a consequence of long cultural history the resultant lifeworld in India converges like a drama and dance of space-time function with transference and transformation. In the passage of time emerged a metaphysical frame of thought, the varieties of heritagescapes, and simultaneously grown the senses to heritage ecology. Of course, attempts have been scanty but the richness always portrayed in literature and literary geography. Historical and cultural geographies in India have not caught that much attention in the academia; however on micro-level distinct attributes are interpreted in the recent literature. Going back to the ancient notions of nature theology, religioscapes and rituals have developed a complex network of belief systems in the Hindu traditions. In these traditions the motherly river Ganga serves as symbol, system and metaphor in the Indian culture. Continuity of cultural manifestations is actively maintained and continued in the Indian villages, where lives three-fourths of India’s population, and serve like a ‘place ballet’. India’s catastrophic march on the road of development and technology is entangled with obstacles and socio-spatial gaps that need to be re-considered in the light of cultural background and historical legacy. All these issues are examined, emphasising dualistic and complimentary perspectives in the West and the East. Contents: Viewpoints on the book: v-viii; List of Tables, List of Figures: xi-xvi; Foreword: Prof. Martin J. Haigh (Oxford Brooke University, UK): 1-8; Preface, Acknowledgements: 9-21, 1. Metaphysics and Sacred Ecology: Cosmos, Theos, Anthropos: 23-57, 2. Lifeworld, Lifecycle and Home: 58-97, 3. Landscape as Text: Literary Geography and Indian Context: 98-128, 4. Historical Geography of India: Trends in the 21st century: 129-162, 5. Cultural Geography of India: Trends in the 21st century: 163-195, 6. Geographic Milieu and Belief Systems: An Appraisal: 196-226, 7. Sacred space and Faithscape: 227-266, 8. The Ganga River: Images and Symbol of India: 267-302, 9. Indian Village: A Phenomenological Understanding: 303-350, 10. Heritagescapes of India: Appraising Heritage ecology: 351-393, and 11. Development in India: Appraising Self Retrospection: 394-422; index: 423-430; author 431.

Download or read book Banaras City of Light written by Diana L. Eck and published by Columbia University Press. This book was released on 1999 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In BANARAS, Diana Eck . . . has written a notable book about this greatest of Indian pilgrimage sites. . . . Her brilliant, comprehensive book seems likely to remain for a long time the definitive work on this great Indian city".--WASHINGTON POST. 61 photos. 7 maps.

Download or read book Routledge Companion to Global Heritage Conservation written by Vinayak Bharne and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-02-12 with total page 514 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The act of identifying, protecting, restoring, and reusing buildings, districts, and built landscapes of historic and cultural significance is, at its best, a reflective and consequential process of urban and socio-economic reform. It has the potential to reconcile conflicting memories, meanings, and cultural tensions, bridging and expanding the perceived boundaries of multiple disciplines towards bigger aspirations of city-making and social justice. How and where do such aspirations overlap and differ across nations and societies across the world? In places with different histories, governance structures, regulatory stringency, and populist dispositions, who are the specific players, and what are the actual processes that bring about bigger and deeper change beyond just the conservation of an architectural or urban entity of perceived value? This collection of scholarly articles by theorists, academics, and practitioners explores the global complexity, guises, and potential of heritage conservation. Going from Tokyo to Cairo, Shenzhen to Rome, and Delhi to Moscow, this volume examines a vast range of topics – indigenous habitats, urban cores, vernacular infrastructure, colonial towns, squatters, burial sites, war zones, and modern landmarks. It surfaces numerous inherent issues – water stress, deforestation, social oppression, poverty, religion, immigration, and polity, expanding the definitions of heritage conservation as both a professional discipline and socio-cultural catalyst. This book argues that the intellectual and praxis limits of heritage conservation – as the agency of reading, defining, and intervening with built heritage – can be expansive, aimed at bigger positive change beyond a specific subject or object; plural, enmeshed with multiple fields and specializations; and empathetic, born from the actual socio-political realities of a place.

Download or read book Uprooting Geographic Thoughts in India written by Rana Singh and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Under the cultural turn and transformation the new intellectual discourses started in the 21st century to search the roots, have cross-cultural comparison and to see how the old traditions be used in the contemporary worldviews. This book is the first attempt dealing with roots of Indian geographical thoughts since its beginning in 1920. It emphasises identity of India and Indianness and consciousness among dweller geographers in India, development and status of geography and its recent trends, Gaia theory and Indian context in search of cosmic integrity, ecospirituality and global message towards interrelatedness, Hindu pilgrimages and its contemporary importance, Mahatma Gandhi and his contribution to sustainable environmental development for global peace and humanism, and new vision to see meeting grounds of the East and the West on the line of reconstruction and reconciliation in the globalising world. These essays are selective and thematic, therefore overall view of comprehensiveness is lacking. But this book is not the end; obviously it is a beginning as already other volumes in sequence and continuity are in progress. At the end, the lead essays, representative of the three eras, by Spate (1956), Sopher (1973), and Mukerji (1992) are reprinted with a view to assessing the relevance of their challenging message even today.

Download or read book Religious Cultures in Early Modern India written by Rosalind O'Hanlon and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-01-02 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Religious authority and political power have existed in complex relationships throughout India’s history. The centuries of the ‘early modern’ in South Asia saw particularly dynamic developments in this relationship. Regional as well as imperial states of the period expanded their religious patronage, while new sectarian centres of doctrinal and spiritual authority emerged beyond the confines of the state. Royal and merchant patronage stimulated the growth of new classes of mobile intellectuals deeply committed to the reappraisal of many aspects of religious law and doctrine. Supra-regional institutions and networks of many other kinds - sect-based religious maths, pilgrimage centres and their guardians, sants and sufi orders - flourished, offering greater mobility to wider communities of the pious. This was also a period of growing vigour in the development of vernacular religious literatures of different kinds, and often of new genres blending elements of older devotional, juridical and historical literatures. Oral and manuscript literatures too gained more rapid circulation, although the meaning and canonical status of texts frequently changed as they circulated more widely and reached larger lay audiences. Through explorations of these developments, the essays in this collection make a distinctive contribution to a critical formative period in the making of India’s modern religious cultures. This book was published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.

Download or read book The Place of Many Moods written by Dipti Khera and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-29 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A look at the painting traditions of northwestern India in the eighteenth century, and what they reveal about the political and artistic changes of the era In the long eighteenth century, artists from Udaipur, a city of lakes in northwestern India, specialized in depicting the vivid sensory ambience of its historic palaces, reservoirs, temples, bazaars, and durbars. As Mughal imperial authority weakened by the late 1600s and the British colonial economy became paramount by the 1830s, new patrons and mobile professionals reshaped urban cultures and artistic genres across early modern India. The Place of Many Moods explores how Udaipur’s artworks—monumental court paintings, royal portraits, Jain letter scrolls, devotional manuscripts, cartographic artifacts, and architectural drawings—represent the period’s major aesthetic, intellectual, and political shifts. Dipti Khera shows that these immersive objects powerfully convey the bhava—the feel, emotion, and mood—of specific places, revealing visions of pleasure, plenitude, and praise. These memorialized moods confront the ways colonial histories have recounted Oriental decadence, shaping how a culture and time are perceived. Illuminating the close relationship between painting and poetry, and the ties among art, architecture, literature, politics, ecology, trade, and religion, Khera examines how Udaipur’s painters aesthetically enticed audiences of courtly connoisseurs, itinerant monks, and mercantile collectives to forge bonds of belonging to real locales in the present and to long for idealized futures. Their pioneering pictures sought to stir such emotions as love, awe, abundance, and wonder, emphasizing the senses, spaces, and sociability essential to the efficacy of objects and expressions of territoriality. The Place of Many Moods uncovers an influential creative legacy of evocative beauty that raises broader questions about how emotions and artifacts operate in constituting history and subjectivity, politics and place.

Download or read book Indian Islamic Architecture written by John Burton-Page and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2008 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The articles by John Burton-Page on Indian Islamic architecture assembled in this volume give an historical overview of the subject, ranging from the mosques and tombs erected by the Delhi sultans in the 13th, 14th and 15th centuries, to the great monuments of the Mughals in the 16th and 17th centuries.