The Holy Land Reborn: Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention of Buddhist India – By Toni Huber

Maher, D.F.

doi:10.1111/j.1748-0922.2009.01374_5.x

Cited by 3 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…It is worth mentioning, as well, that similar tests of karma exist at Tibetan pilgrimage sites today and are documented by scholars such as Isabelle Charleux (2002, 186), Katia Buffetrille (2014, 207), Huber (1999c, 19, 2008, 159–60), and Emily Yeh (2017). Huber, for example, describes tests wherein pilgrims try to wedge themselves through small stone passageways at pilgrimage sites in order to determine who is karmically pure or not (1999b, 19, 1999c).…”

Section: Using Karma To Tell Storiesmentioning

confidence: 69%

Karmic Opacity and Ethical Formation in a Tibetan Pilgrim's Diary

Hartmann¹

2023

Journal of Religious Ethics

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How do abstract doctrinal ideas become visible and meaningful in the lives of religious practitioners? This article approaches this question by examining the diary of the Tibetan pilgrim Khatag Zamyak (kha stag 'dzam yag) (1896–1961) to explore how he engages with the idea of karma. Scholars of Buddhism often define karma as a law of cause and effect that is fundamental to Buddhist ethics, but this third‐person approach to understanding karma can lead scholars to overlook what it feels like to live in a world structured by karma. This article explores how Khatag Zamyak confronts the fact that he does not know his own karma and how he undertakes specific practices to be able to see and tell stories about his own karma. It further argues that Khatag Zamyak's process of engaging with karma is integral to his formation as an ethical subject.

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Section: Using Karma To Tell Storiesmentioning

confidence: 69%

Karmic Opacity and Ethical Formation in a Tibetan Pilgrim's Diary

Hartmann¹

2023

Journal of Religious Ethics

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“…The idea of a Buddhist circuit frames a certain religious and cultural imagination of the land of Buddha [10]. Such articulation is germane to most organised religions where places are brought into an assemblage where the natural and geographical features are associated with the legends of their founders; for example, the Holy Land of Jesus for Christians, the Mecca-Medina complex of the Prophet for Muslims, and so on.…”

Section: Understanding Pilgrimage Circuitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, Buddhism almost disappeared from most settlements in the plains pushing Buddhist followers to mountainous regions of Himalayas (which constitutes the present-day north-eastern region in India, and neighboring Bhutan and Nepal). During the early twentieth century colonial period, a wave of revival of Buddhism emerged due to a combination of interest of colonial powers in archaeology and antiquities and philosophical interest in the teaching of Buddha [10].…”

Section: Buddhism and Buddhist Pilgrimage In Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another major contribution to resurgence of interest in Buddhism was the influx of Tibetan refugees under the leadership of the Dalai Lama in 1959. The exiled Lama established a government headquarters at Dharamsala in Himachal Pradesh and from there the Tibetan followers began to play an important role in reviving and internationalizing of Tibetan Buddhism across India and its neighbors [10].…”

Section: Buddhism and Buddhist Pilgrimage In Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Over time, the popular conception of the Buddhist circuit includes "eight places of the Buddha": Lumbini, Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, Sravasti, Rajgir, Sankassa, and Vaishali as they have "become increasingly circulated and invoked in a variety of contexts" [9]. These places are widely seen as framing India's Buddhist landscape as well as locus of ritual practice for followers of Buddhism [10]. In Buddhism, the notion of a journey is intrinsic to seeking and as such has evolved into an essential pilgrimage ritual for monks and laity.…”

Section: Buddhism and Buddhist Pilgrimage In Indiamentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

How Effective Is a Buddhist Pilgrimage Circuit as a Product and Strategy for Heritage Tourism in India?

Shinde

2022

Heritage

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Buddhist heritage in India is receiving reasonable attention for tourism development with a particular emphasis on promoting Buddhist circuits. One Buddhist pilgrimage circuit covering eight locations including four most sacred places, namely, Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar, and Lumbini, is popular for spiritual and religious reasons. Fieldwork conducted in these four sites reveals complex patterns of visitation that question the idea of a circuit as a tourism product. The primary circuit-goers are foreign Buddhist followers, but the magnitude of their visitation is very low. They constitute less than 10 percent of visitors and are far outnumbered by domestic visitors. Domestic visitors driven by recreational purposes hardly complete the entire circuit; their visits are directed to two popular sites while other sites are used as “middle-of-the-trip centers” or places for daytrips. The interviews with various stakeholders including religious institutions, private tour operators, and relevant government agencies, show that the itineraries of circuit-goers depend on several factors including the convenience of travel, accommodation facilities, the ability to perform pilgrimage rituals, and institutional governance for tourism. This paper argues that Buddhist pilgrimage circuits operate more as a cultural landscape at a cognitive level rather than as a distinct physical route and a product that can be effectively translated into as strategy for tourism development in Buddhist sites.

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Still on UNESCO’s “Tentative List of World Heritage”? Heritage, Tourism, and Stunted Growth in Sarnath (Varanasi), India

Shinde

Singh

2023

Heritage

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It is not unusual for a place to wait for years before being inscribed on the World Heritage List, but Sarnath—the place where the Buddha delivered his first sermon—has been on UNESCO’s “tentative list” for close to 25 years. As a sacred place for Buddhist pilgrimages, Sarnath continues to attract thousands of visitors annually and yet, remains under-developed, unlike other pilgrim towns or religious tourism destinations. This paper examines the reasons for the stunted growth of Sarnath. The findings are based on fieldwork conducted in Sarnath in 2019. The analysis of stakeholder interviews suggests several reasons for Sarnath not being able to capitalize on its religious and cultural heritage for tourism-led development. It was found that the protection of the site as an archaeological park by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which has been controlling development surrounding the park as well as prohibiting the performance of any rituals, have been the key endogenous factors that have contributed to the relative under-development of a Buddhist pilgrimage economy in the town. A handful of monasteries are where Buddhist followers stay and perform their pilgrimage rituals, rendering them as enclaves. Private-sector accommodation is also limited to around 15 hotels and guesthouses. Administratively, Sarnath does not have an independent governance structure. It is governed as just one ward (an electoral constituency) by the Municipal Corporation of Varanasi and is, thus, always under the shadow of Varanasi city. Varanasi is one of the most significant Hindu sacred cities and, hence, visitors stay there for much longer durations to soak in cultural offerings, including religious ceremonies around the Ganga River; a visit to Sarnath is secondary and often limited to a half-day tour. Moreover, the archaeological park at Sarnath serves a recreational purpose as a picnic site for domestic visitors. The exogenous factors mean that the interests of Sarnath (as a Buddhist site) are hardly acknowledged by the Hindu city of Varanasi. This paper argues that the multi-layered contestations that exist at the site level, the town–ward level, and between visitors and managers have further contributed to the poor state of heritage and tourism in Sarnath.

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The Holy Land Reborn: Pilgrimage and the Tibetan Reinvention of Buddhist India – By Toni Huber

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

Karmic Opacity and Ethical Formation in a Tibetan Pilgrim's Diary

Karmic Opacity and Ethical Formation in a Tibetan Pilgrim's Diary

How Effective Is a Buddhist Pilgrimage Circuit as a Product and Strategy for Heritage Tourism in India?

Still on UNESCO’s “Tentative List of World Heritage”? Heritage, Tourism, and Stunted Growth in Sarnath (Varanasi), India

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