Download or read book Local Perspectives of Sacred Landscapes and Tourism written by Yang Mu and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many cultures around the world attach sacred values to natural and cultural sites. Although different cultures interpret the word “sacred” differently, sacred places generally reveal strict behavioural restrictions, a sense of separateness (Hubert, 1997), as well as strong emotion-oriented and place-bound characteristics (Levi & Kocher, 2013). However, the concept of sacred landscape appears to be a vague one, and is not fully examined in existing literature. As many sacred places turn into popular tourist destinations, the environmental, economic and social implications of tourism to such destinations require deeper understandings of tourism's role in reshaping spiritual values and reproducing local perceptions of the “sacred”. This study examines local residents' objective recognition and subjective interpretations of a sacred landscape, and how these are influenced by tourism development. The Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park (SNP) in Nepal's Khumbu Region was selected as the case study area. The region is perceived as a sacred beyul (hidden valley) by local Buddhist Sherpas, and has undergone tremendous environmental, economic and social changes brought by trekking tourism. This study is exploratory in nature, and is based on author's field observation and 33 in-depth, semi-structured interviews conducted with Sherpa residents during fall 2014. Study findings indicate that Sherpa residents' objective recognition of sacred landscape are influenced by geographical proximity to sacred sites, age of residents, and their religious background. Subjective interpretations of sacred landscape are shaped by a strong awareness of the behavioural restrictions, family influence, as well as personal experiences. Sherpas' emotional and spiritual bonds with the landscape are reinforced through routinized contact with the sacred cultural features, and consistent compliance with the rules of conduct at sacred sites. Through everyday practices, Sherpas unconsciously remind themselves about the spiritual values and religious beliefs embedded in the landscape. Sherpas are actively engaged in activities such as religious festivals which promote their cultural identity and spirits. Tourism's influence on local spiritual values is evident and reflected in three aspects: changes in mountain deity worship; shift in human-land relationship; and, alterations of religious routines and practices. Tourism development has made beyul Khumbu a hybrid and dynamic place, where traditional spiritual values and religious practices exist simultaneously with increased commercialization and modernization due to tourism. Although Sherpas still regard Khumbu as a sacred place and are actively focused on retaining the essential components of Sherpa spiritual values and cultural identity, the religious influence of beyul is slowly declining as people's life drift away from the land, and interests shift to material consumption. This research aims to make contributions to the existing literature on landscape studies and cultural geography by examining local residents' perceptions toward multiple aspects of a sacred landscape under changing social and economic contexts. Also, exploring the changing indigenous spiritual values and religious beliefs will help developing more sustainable and effective management policies in cultural and environmental conservation.

Download or read book Pilgrimage Beyond the Officially Sacred written by Michael A. Di Giovine and published by . This book was released on 2019-12-04 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pilgrimage beyond the Officially Sacred: Understanding the Geographies of Religion and Spirituality in Sacred Travel examines the many ways in which pilgrimage engages with sacredness, delving beyond the officially recognized, and often religiously conceived, pilgrimage sites. As scholarship examining the lived experiences of pilgrims and tourists has demonstrated, pilgrimage need not be religious in nature, nor be officially sanctioned; rather, they can be 'hyper-meaningful' voyages, set apart from the everyday profane life--in a word, they are sacred. Separating the social category of 'religion' from the 'sacred, ' this volume brings together a multidisciplinary group of scholars employing perspectives from anthropology, geography, sociology, religious studies, theology, and interdisciplinary tourism studies to theorize sacredness, its variability, and the ways in which it is officially recognized or condemned by power brokers. Rich in case studies from sacred centers throughout the world, the contributions pay close attention to the ways in which pilgrims, central authorities, site managers, locals, and other stakeholders on the ground appropriate, negotiate, shape, contest, or circumvent the powerful forces of the sacred. Delving 'beyond the officially sacred, ' this collective examination of pilgrimages--both well-established and new, religious and secular, authorized and not--presents a compelling look at the interplay of secular powers and the transcendent forces of the sacred at these hyper-meaningful sites. Providing a blueprint for how work in the anthropology and geography of religion, and the fields of pilgrimage and religious tourism, may move forward, Pilgrimage beyond the Officially Sacred will be of great interest to an interdisciplinary field of scholars. The chapters were originally published as a special issue in Tourism Geographies.

Download or read book Is the Sacred for Sale written by Alison M Johnston and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-10-14 with total page 401 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Definitely a book that sheds light on perspectives and perceptions about today's global economy. A must read for tourists and corporations alike - also heads of state, the media and environment groups - all of whom need to be informed on this key subject.' Chief Garry John, Chair and Spokesperson, St'at'imc Chiefs' Council 'an activist's call to action on behalf of people who have been made invisible in the merciless spread of globalization under corporate control.' Nina Rao, Southern Co Chair of the Tourism Caucus at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, and Professor of Tourism 'A powerful and much-needed tool to fight the seemingly all-pervasive ignorance in the corporate and consumer-driven world that continues to hail ecotourism and other tourism 'alternatives' as beneficial to local people without looking at the root causes of problems.' Anita Pleumarom, Tourism Investigation and Monitoring Team, Bangkok Tourism is the fastest growing industry in the world. Ecotourism, often considered a more benign form of tourism, can in fact cause the most damage, as it targets more vulnerable environments and cultures. Is the Sacred for Sale? looks at our present crossroads in consumer society. It analyses the big questions of tourism, clarifying how tourism can support biodiversity conservation. It also offers a cross-cultural window to the divide between corporate thinking and sacred knowledge, to help us understand why collisions over resources and land use are escalating. Finally, we have a full spectrum of information for healthy dialogue and new relationships. This book is a profound wake up call to the business world and to decision-makers who shape current policy. It poses important questions to us all and is a must read for every tourist and traveller.

Download or read book Christian Pilgrimage Landscape and Heritage written by Avril Maddrell and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-12-05 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume provides a theoretically and empirically-grounded study of the significance of landscape in the experience of Christian pilgrimage across different denominations and its intersection with cultural heritage and tourism. The book focuses on pilgrimages to Meteora (Greece), Subiaco (Italy) and the Isle of Man. These are each sites of scenic beauty that boast a rich heritage associated respectively to Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic and Ecumenical/ Protestant denominations. The study discusses different Christian theologies, practices and perspectives on the nature and the purpose of pilgrimage in these traditions. It draws on participant experiential accounts, archival research, and interviews with clergy, laity and local stakeholders. Special attention is paid to the themes of sacred space and practice, aesthetics, mobilities, embodiment and performance, emotional geographies, theology, cultural heritage, consumption and commodification, and the pilgrim-tourist continuum.

Download or read book Sacred Landscapes Connecting Routes written by Cg Williamson and published by Peeters. This book was released on 2024-04-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the crossroads of community, territory, and the divine is the landscape of religion. This landscape is shaped by those who occupy it, or desire to occupy it, and their ideologies as much as their cosmologies. But equally important are those who pass through it, and the flow of ideas that travel through its connections. Sacred landscapes are cultural artefacts, rooted in natural phenomena, legends and myths from the deep past, shaped by ritual performance and perception. They evoke by definition a sense of timelessness and yet are constantly evolving, subject to the shifts of formal and informal agencies across the scales. The religious environment is here addressed in terms of landscape, geography, traffic and paths of connection and communication and their material manifestations. How was sacred movement etched into the landscape? What sorts of media were involved in creating a âe~sacredâe(tm) landscape? Which material culture helped connect communities across time and space? The contributions in this volume explore these questions in relation to specific case studies in the ancient world, spanning the Mediterranean from Asia Minor through Greece to the Italian peninsula, in a time frame ranging from the Early Iron Age to the High Imperial period. They open up new areas to consider when looking at the phenomenon of sacred landscapes and connectivities. Such questions reach out beyond antiquity âe" they reflect on our own views of urban and rural space, and the importance of religion for collective identities and territorial claims today.

Download or read book Pilgrimage and Tourism to Holy Cities written by Maria Leppakari and published by CABI. This book was released on 2016-11-30 with total page 206 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book covers the ideological motives and religious perceptions behind travel to sites prescribed with sanctity in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. It covers sites that have drawn pilgrims and religious tourists to them for hundreds of years, and seeks to provide an understanding of the complex world of religiously motivated travel. Beginning with contemporary perspectives of pilgrimage across these religions, it then discusses management aspects such as logistics, infrastructure, malevolent behaviour and evangelical volunteers. Written by subject experts, this book addresses cultural sustainability for researchers and practitioners within religious tourism, religious studies, geography and anthropology.

Download or read book Host Communities and Pilgrimage Tourism written by Ricardo Nicolas Progano and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-04-25 with total page 237 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book delves into topics on pilgrimage travel and communities from a variety of perspectives through academic research based on the Middle East, Northeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and Europe, where sacred sites have become of great importance for both international and domestic tourism. In particular, Europe and Asia possess a high volume of world-renowned pilgrimage sites that are currently being developed as tourism destinations in their respective countries, such as Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Lourdes (France), and Koyasan (Japan). This book includes studies on these two continents that harbor both a great history of pilgrimage tradition, as well as tourism development related to religious travel. The book importantly covers the role of the community in religious tourism, as well as the impact on the locals, which is comparatively an unexplored area. Whilst pilgrimage is seen as an effective tool to revitalize local economies, this book also reveals the different challenges to achieving this goal. Realizing the importance of the interrelationship of community and pilgrimage travel, as well as the lack of studies on it, this book seeks to address this research gap through 14 chapters divided into two parts, ‘Communities and Constestation’ and ‘Pilgrimage Shaping Communities’. To ensure diverse perspectives, case studies from different Eurasian countries, written by authors with expertise in the study of pilgrimage and religious travel, are included. Readers can expect to gain new perspectives by having a deeper comprehension of the ‘community side‘ of pilgrimage travel in Eurasia, and thus an integral understanding of contemporary pilgrimage

Download or read book Sacred Places of Goddess written by Karen Tate and published by . This book was released on 2010-07-30 with total page 524 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This fascinating travel perspective is sure to become an invaluable resource in every library and on every coffee table and bookshelf as the past is uncovered through the lens of sacred travel. Including both academic and popular religious perspectives, this comprehensive world guide will be of interest to both experts as well as the spiritual novice. Author Karen Tate deftly combines current trends, academic theories, and historical insights, some of which may surprise even the most well read or jaded traveler. This volume of sacred sites brings both lesser-known and famous locales into perspective as it explains the significance of Goddess both today and in centuries past. Whether the reader is an armchair or seasoned traveler, they will be delighted by the insights, humor, as well as the in-depth cultural and artistic experience of Sacred Places of Goddess. Never before have so many cultures, places, and spiritualities of Goddess been compiled between two covers.

Download or read book Asian Sacred Natural Sites written by Bas Verschuuren and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a new perspective on the topic of sacred natural sites and cultural heritage, by linking and embedding them within local Asian cultures.

Download or read book Sacred Sites Rituals and Performances written by Kiran Shinde and published by MDPI. This book was released on 2021-09-09 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The conceptual territory of religious tourism is fluid. While recreation and leisure-based motivation and behaviors are evident in religious tourism, this volume reiterates its rootedness in tenets from religious traditions and pilgrimages. Using fresh perspectives on place-stories, rituals, performances, that are central to pilgrimage and sacred sites, essays in this volume explain contemporary expressions of religious tourism and illustrate the dynamic nature of religious tourism as an ecosystem embedded in religious practices, rituals and performances. The explanations will benefit researchers and practioners alike and they can find numerous examples that show the significance of religious tourism for sustainable development of destinations.

Download or read book Tourism in a Sacred Landscape written by Jeremy D. Spoon and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 681 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Japanese Popular Culture and Contents Tourism written by Philip Seaton and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-02-02 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Contents tourism is tourism induced by the contents (narratives, characters, locations and other creative elements) of films, novels, games, manga, anime, television dramas and other forms of popular culture. Amidst the boom in global interest in Japanese popular culture, the utilization of popular culture to induce tourism domestically and internationally has been central to the "Cool Japan" strategy and, since 2005, government policy for local community revitalization. This book presents four main case studies of contents tourism: the phenomenon of "anime pilgrimage" to sites appearing in animated film; the travel behaviours and "pop-spiritualism" of female history fans to heritage sites; the collaboration between local community, fans and copyright holders that underpinned an anime-induced tourism boom in a small town north of Tokyo; and the large-scale economic impacts of tourism induced by NHK’s annual samurai period drama (Taiga Drama). It is the first major collection of articles published in English about media-induced tourism in Japan using the "contents tourism" approach. This book will be of particular interest to students and researchers of media and tourism studies in Asia. This book was previously published as a special issue of Japan Forum.

Download or read book Sacred Natural Sites written by Bas Verschuuren and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-06-25 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sacred Natural Sites are the world's oldest protected places. This book focuses on a wide spread of both iconic and lesser known examples such as sacred groves of the Western Ghats (India), Sagarmatha /Chomolongma (Mt Everest, Nepal, Tibet - and China), the Golden Mountains of Altai (Russia), Holy Island of Lindisfarne (UK) and the sacred lakes of the Niger Delta (Nigeria). The book illustrates that sacred natural sites, although often under threat, exist within and outside formally recognised protected areas, heritage sites. Sacred natural sites may well be some of the last strongholds for building resilient networks of connected landscapes. They also form important nodes for maintaining a dynamic socio-cultural fabric in the face of global change. The diverse authors bridge the gap between approaches to the conservation of cultural and biological diversity by taking into account cultural and spiritual values together with the socio-economic interests of the custodian communities and other relevant stakeholders.

Download or read book Geography of Religion in Japan written by Keisuke Matsui and published by Springer. This book was released on 2013-12-10 with total page 199 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book discusses modern aspects of Japanese religion in terms of cultural geography. To understand the function of religion, it is essential to examine it in the context of local societies. One of the distinguishing characteristics of Japanese religion is its diversity; indeed, it is often remarked that “Japan is a museum of religions.” In this work, the author clarifies some geographical aspects of the complex situation of Japanese religion. Chapter 1 discusses the trend of geographical studies of religion in Japan, of which four types can be identified. Chapter 2 focuses on certain characteristics of Japanese religious traditions by discussing tree worship and the landscape of sacred places. Chapter 3 clarifies regional divisions in the catchment areas of Japanese Shintoism by analyzing the distribution of certain types of believers. The author discusses two case studies: the Kasama Inari Shrine and the Kanamura Shrine. Chapter 4 discusses some modern aspects of sacred places and tourism through two case studies. The first part of the chapter focuses on changes in the types of businesses at the Omotesando of the Naritasan Shinshoji-Monzenmachi, and the following sections examine the revitalization of the local community through the promotion of religious tourism.

Download or read book Religious Tourism and the Environment written by Kiran A. Shinde and published by CABI. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The remarkable growth in religious tourism across the world has generated considerable interest in the impacts of this type of tourism. Focusing here on environmental issues, this book moves beyond the documentation of environmental impacts to examine in greater depth the intersections between religious tourism and the environment. Beginning with an in-depth introduction that highlights the intersections between religion, tourism, and the environment, the book then focuses on the environment as a resource or generator for religious tourism and as a recipient of the impacts of religious tourism. Chapters included discuss such important areas as theological views, environmental responsibility, and host perspectives.

Download or read book Heritage Conservation and Tourism Development at Cham Sacred Sites in Vietnam written by Quang Dai Tuyen and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2023-11-13 with total page 245 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book considers the growing field of heritage tourism from community perspectives. It explores how the Cham—Vietnam’s large ethnic minority—reconcile their needs for economic development with the boundaries circumscribed by their traditional culture. It examines struggles that local minority stakeholders like the Cham face when trying to participate in areas of development that typically fall under State control. How will tourism affect the ancient sacred spaces that are the Cham’s lifeblood? In what areas is their participation permitted? From what areas are they excluded? Through a novel mix of indigenous methods, participant observation, local voices, and rich ethnographic description, this book provides a rare glimpse into the discourses that have been percolating throughout the community in recent years. The relevance of this study extends beyond the Cham community, and aims to resonate with experiences of the myriad indigenous and minority communities around the world who face similar issues with heritage conservation and tourism development. This book is of interest to students and researchers of heritage studies, tourism management, cultural studies, Asian studies, as well as policymakers, and academicians seeking current research on the connections between culture, conservation, sustainable development, and tourism.

Download or read book Sacred Sites Sacred Places written by David L. Carmichael and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-04-15 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sacred Sites, Sacred Places explores the concept of 'sacred' and what it means and implies to people in differing cultures. It looks at why people regard some parts of the land as special and why this ascription remains constant in some cultures and changes in others. Archaeologists, legislators and those involved in heritage management sometimes encounter conflict with local populations over sacred sites. With the aid of over 70 illustrations the book examines the extreme importance of such sacred places in all cultures and the necessity of accommodating those intimate beliefs which are such a vital part of ongoing cultural identity. Sacred Sites, Sacred Places therefore will be of help to those who wish to be non-destructive in their conservation and excavation practices. This book is unique in attempting to describe the belief systems surrounding the existence of sacred sites, and at the same time bringing such beliefs and practices into relationship with the practical problems of everyday heritage management. The geographical coverage of the book is exceptionally wide and its variety of contributors, including indigenous peoples, archaeologists and heritage professionals, is unrivalled in any other publication.