Faith on the Landscape: SACRED SITES

“That which is set apart from the ordinary world.”

Sacred space provides:

Natural and/or Human-made assemblages that possess special spiritual meaning

Recognized as worthy of devotion, loyalty, fear or esteem Sacred space in South Korea, also used for

Pilgrimages.

Holy Places & Scared Sites:The Same Thing?

Holy Places are related to the religion and religious practices or sanctified

Sacred sites are important spiritual sites

SO…a Holy place is sacred but sacred place is not always holy.

Holy Sites and Days

Universalizing Religions

* Holy Sites: linked to an event or person important to the faith.

ex.: Buddha's Hair

* Holy Days: events that relate to the founding of the faith.

ex.: Christmas, Easter

Ethnic Religions

*Holy Sites: landscapes or nature or a “spot”

ex.: Jews: The land of Israel

* Holy Days: link to seasons or land activities.

ex. a harvest festival

Sacred Sites

Can be man made or natural

a landscape/site or object

India’s Sacred Sites – Ganges River for Hindu’s

India’s sacred site for Muslim’s?

Taj Mahal was built as a Muslim tomb.

Most Sacred Site for Muslims- MECCA

Muslims must make at least one pilgrimage during their life time.

Hindu Temple

The creation of temples and the images they house has been a principal outletof Indian artistry for more than 3,000 years. At the village level, the structuremay be simple, the great temples are ornate extensions of the same basic design.

Buddhism

Bodhi TreeBodhgaya, BiharThe Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya is a descendant of the tree under which Siddharta Gautama attained enlightenment after 49 days of meditation and became the "Enlightened One."

Egypt’s Sacred site The Beni Hassan

Islamic necropolis in central Egypt lies in the desert just beyond the irrigable land.

The living make intensive use of every parcel watered by the Nile river.

TYPES OF BASILICA’S - Christianity

St. Basil’s Church in Moscow

Notre Dame in Paris

More Christian Sacred Sites

Yucatan Peninsula In Iowa, communalistic Germans prefertidiness, order, and equality.

Shinto Shrine - Japan

Shinto shrines are places of worship and the dwellings of the kami, the Shinto "gods". Sacred objects of worship that represent the kami are stored in the innermost chamber of the shrine where they cannot be seen by anybody. People visit shrines in order to pay respect to the kami or to pray for good fortune. Shrines are also visited during special events such as New Year, setsubun, shichigosan and other festivals. New born babies are traditionally brought to a shrine a few days after birth, and many couples hold their wedding ceremonies there.

Two High Places that have evolved into Sacred Places

Ayers Rock in central Australia an Aboriginal sacred site

Mount Shasta, CA is venerated bySome 30 New Age cults, including the“I Am” religion.

Animism

River Jordon

The Jordan River is a major water source that flows through the Jordan Rift Valley into the Dead Sea. The Jordan only reaches 20 yards across in some places, and its deepest point is around 17 feet. It extends from tributaries at the base of Mount Hermon to its main source, the Kinneret, and then down to the Dead Sea. The river forms the boundary between the country of Jordan and the West Bank. The Jordan River is a key water source for Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon; water remains a central issue to the Middle East conflict. Israel and Jordan have signed treaties on Jordan River-related matters. For Israel, the water of the Jordan River is an absolute neccessity for drinking water and for irrigation.

The cultural and religious significance of the Jordan River is equal to that of its modern practical uses. In the Tanakh, the Jordan River is mentioned several times as a source of fertility for Israel. It is the place where Joshua and the tribes of Israel crossed into Jericho, and also the scene of many biblical battles. In Christian tradition, the Jordan is the scene of the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. Christian pilgrims can today visit the traditional site of the baptism at a place called Yardenit, at the point where the Jordan River flows out of the Kinneret.

Sources: Holy Land Network

Sacred Objects

Not all sacred things are places they can be objects too…

http://abclocal.go.com/kfsn/story?section=news/bizarre&id=8374820

Not all sacred sites are religious…

September 11, 2001

Pilgrimages

A religious journey to a sacred site…

Muslim pilgrims are seen on their way towards a rocky hill called Mount Arafat, on the Plain of Arafat near Mecca, Saudi Arabia on Monday, Nov. 15, 2010. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

What is the impact of sacred sites on the cultural landscape?

Other Impacts of Faith

Dry Counties (landscape) No work on Sunday (economic) No pigs in the middle east (economic?) Church architecture, uses local

materials