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

Preface
Acknowledgements
Contents
Notes on Contributors
List of Figures
List of Tables
Chapter 1: Introduction
Part I: Visual Arts and Architecture
	Chapter 2: Traces of Places: Sacred Sites in Miniature on Minoan Gold Rings
		Introduction
		Peak Sanctuaries
		Rural Sanctuaries
		Cave Sanctuaries
		Landscape Features in Palatial Architecture
		Sacred Sites in Iconography
		Cult in Glyptic
		Trees in Rocky Ground
		Cult Structures
		Sanctuary Walls
		Columnar Shrines
		Ashlar Altars
		Tripartite Shrines
		Constructed Openwork Platforms
		Incurved Altars
		Table Altars
		Altars with Horns
		Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 3: Reimagining Sacrosanct Sites in the Graphic Arts of Kōno Fumiyo
		Introduction
		Dissociating Hiroshima/Nagasaki: Towards a Genealogy of A-bomb Manga
		Kōno Fumiyo: Breaking the Hegemony of Silence
		Shifting Perspectives in In This Corner Of The World
		Shōjo Manga and the Feminisation of Japan’s War Legacy
		Parody, Criticism and In This Corner Of The World as Counter-Memorial Site
		Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 4: Consecrated Journeys: A Torres Strait Islander Space, Time Odyssey
		Introduction
			The Full Ritual Process: A Torres Strait Story
		Ethno-Archaeological Research at Ne on Waier
		Archaeology Research at Ne
			Square A
			Squares B and C
		Discussion: Understanding the Full Ritual Process
			Establishment of the Waiet Cult in ETS (Story Cycle 1)
			Waiet’s Pathway in ETS (Story Cycle 2)
			Waiet’s Pathway Across Torres Strait (Story Cycle 3)
		Continuity of Practice, Continuity of Belief?
		Stories Embedded in Place: Reassessing Ne as a Sacred Site
		Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 5: Art and Cultural Heritage of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata: A View through the Terracotta Temples of Bishnupur, West Bengal
		Introduction
		Regional History and Narratives
		Bishnupur Sacred Sites
		Ras-mancha
		Shyama Raya or Shyam-Rai Temple
		Jor-Bangla or Kesta-Rai Temple
		Madan Mohan Temple or Eka-ratna Temple
		Radha-Vinod Temple
		Conclusion
		References
Part II: Pilgrimage and Tourism (Asia and New Age)
	Chapter 6: Jiba: Returning Home for Tenrikyo Followers
		Introduction
		Sacred Place
		Tenrikyo and Jiba
		The Story of Origin
		Miki Nakayama, the Foundress of Tenrikyo and Jiba
		Ojibagaeri: Returning Home
		Revitalising and Salvation
		Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 7: Blurred Boundaries between Secular Memory and Sacred Space in Religious Tourism: Cases of Mormon and Unification Faiths
		Introduction
		Mormon Sacred Geography
		Unification Historical Sites
		The Dance of Sacred and Secular
		Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 8: The Spiritual in the Mundane: The Poetry of the Shikoku O-Henro Pilgrimage
		Introduction
		The Shikoku Henro Pilgrimage
		Getting Started as Pilgrim
		Who Undertakes This Pilgrimage?
		The Poetry of the Shikoku O-Henro
		Celebration of Life
		Pathways to Enlightenment
		Emotional Landscape in the Physical Landscape
		Belief, Companionship and Exhortations
		Peace, Enlightenment and Transition
		Yellow Prayer Flag Poems
		Conclusion
		References
Part III: Competition and Contestation
	Chapter 9: Competition and Contestation at a Hindu-Muslim Shrine: The Case of the Sant Laldas in Mewat, North India
		Introduction
		Laldas and Historical Transformations
		Religious Contestations around the Shared Sacred Spaces of Laldas
		The Nature of Hindu-Muslim Relations in the First Half of Twentieth-Century Alwar
		The Cult and Figure of Laldas: Neither a Hindu nor a Muslim
		Representing Liminality: The Life of a Sādh
		Disputes and the Nature of Religious Cultures of the Baniyas and the Meos
		Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 10: Maitreya’s Boundless Gaze: The Religious Implications of Maitreya Mega-Statues
		Introduction
		Mega-Status as Monument: A Theoretical Context
		A Typology
		Maitreya in Buddhism
		Maitreya Varied Careers
		Maitreya’s Rebirth
		Maitreya as Saviour
		Budai
		How Maitreya Functions Today
			Patronage
			Community
			The Symbolic-Religious Functions
			The Symbolic-Presence
			Commodification—Religious Tourism
		Conclusion
		References
Part IV: Theory and Method
	Chapter 11: Contemporary Creations and Re-cognitions of Sacred Sites
		Introduction
		Sacred Nature
		Sacred Artefacts
		Defending and Policing Disputed Boundaries
		Multi-Level Sacredness
		Permeability and Mobility
		Sacralising Sites
		Physical Bodies as Sacred Sites
		Religious Bodies as Sacred Sites
			Cosmic Sacred Sites
			Global Sacred Sites
			National Sacred Sites
			Local Sacred Sites
			Biological Sacred Sites
			Ethnic Sacred Sites
			Lineage Sacred Sites
			Community Sacred Sites
			Individual Sacred Sites
			Internal Sacred Sites
			Virtual Sacred Sites
		Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 12: Is Sacred Site Discovered? Or Created?: A Case Study of Daesoon Jinrihoe
		Introduction
		Hierophany and Sacred Space of Daesoon Jinrihoe
		Discovery of the Sacred Site: Various forms of Beliefs in Certain Sites
			The Tradition of Feng Shui
			Faith in Sites Hidden by Heaven and Belief of the Degree Number
		Creation of the Sacred Site: Theory of the Consecration of the Sacred Sites
			Faith in the Investiture of Gods
			Conditions for Sacred Sites: The Realisation of Religious Norms
			Ritual of Sacralisation of Sacred Site: The Devotional Offering of Enshrinement
			Reproduction of Sacred Site
		Conclusion
		References
	Chapter 13: Transformation of Admiral to the Sainthood and Sacred Stories of Chinese Sanctum Sanctorum from Malabar Coast
		Introduction
		Malabar-Chinese Relations
		Nature of Malabar Port Towns
		Search for Zheng He’s Shrine
		Research Visit and Nercha Advertisement
		Annual Nerchas in Honour of Sufi Saint
		Admiral and Power of Number Seven
		Cultural Legacies and Heritage
		Conclusion
		References
Index