Topic: Religious Holy PlacesAim: For what reasons do

certain areas hold religious significance?

Religious Holy Places:• Certain locations are elevated to a holy position

- recognized by a religious group as worthy of devotion, loyalty or fear to the extent that it becomes either sought out or avoided, inaccessible to the non-believer or removed from economic use.

1. Ethnic religions: less widespread distribution, therefore holy places derive from the distinctive physical environment of its hearth (mountains, rivers, etc)

2. Universalizing religions: endows cities and other places associated with founders life with holy position -not necessarily related to the physical environment

• Pilgrimages, journeys for religious purposes, are incorporated in Islamic doctrine.

Sacred Space:– Geographers study the impact on the landscape made by all religions.• Places of worship are sacred structures that physically anchor religion to landscape.–Christian Church»More significant role in Christianity than in other religions because of belief that building is the house of God.»Church traditionally largest and tallest building in a community. Additional significance given to it by locating it in a prominent location—e.g., square or center of town»No single architectural style

Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage

Vatican City

Pope John Paul II greeted pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square

Statues of St. Vitalis and 139 other saints overlook a crowd gathered to hear Pope John Paul II deliver Easter greetings

from St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican

Saint Peter’s Basilica

The Church of theHoly Sepulcher

The Via Dolorosa

The path that Jesus walked to his crucifixion

Sacred Sites and Rituals:At Saint Declan’s Holy Well in Ardmore, IrelandPilgrims hang scraps of clothing as offerings

This practice is common at sacred sites in Far Eastern Russia

Wailing Wall:

• Sacred Space– Muslim Mosques

» Space for community assembly» Not viewed as a sanctified place» Attention to cardinal directions is emphasized—e.g., pulpit at end of a courtyard faces Makkah.

» Distinctive feature is a minaret, a tower where a man known as a muezzin summons people to worship.

– Buddhist Pagodas» Prominent and ornate element on landscape that often includes tall, many-sided towers arranged in a series of tiers, balconies, and slanting roofs.

» Contain relics believed to be a portion of Buddha’s body or clothing.

» Not designed for congregational worship

Absorbed in ritual motion – with at least one youthful exception – women pray in Indonesia’s Istiqial Mosque.

Traders and settlers brought Islam here centuries ago and now no other nation has more Muslims.

Muslim Mosques

Dome of this mosque in Isfahan, Iran demonstrates the importance of geometric art evident in Muslim architecture.

• Sacred Places in Universalizing Religions– Cities and places associated with the founder’s life are endowed with holiness.• Not necessarily in close proximity of each other• Not needed to be related to any particular physical environment

– Buddhism and Islam place most emphasis on identifying shrines that mark locations of important events in the life of Buddha or Muhammad.• Pilgrimages, journeys for religious purposes, are incorporated in Islamic doctrine.

Holy Sites in Buddhism:

Most holy sites in Buddhism are locations of important events in Buddha’s life and are clustered in northeastern India and southern Nepal.

Swedogon Pagodo in Yangon, Myanmar

Eight hairs of the Buddha are preserved under the dome (chedi)

BUDDHIST PAGODA, SARNATH, INDIA The Dhamek pagoda, in Deer Park, Sarnath, was built in the third century B.C., and is probably the oldest surviving Buddhist structure in the world.

Burnished by the sun and by generations of prayer, Myanmar’s Golden Rock is journey’s end for Buddhist pilgrims, who

believe it is balanced on the edge of a cliff with a single strand of the Buddha’s hair.

Prayer flags surround Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya, India. Here, on a May evening in the 5th century B.C., a prince called Siddhartha Gautama sat to meditate, achieved enlightenment,

and became the Buddha.

Following the Buddha’s path toward selflessness, nirvana, and an end to suffering, pilgrims prostrate themselves every three

steps on their long walk to Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

The Potala Palace in Lhasa was home to every Dalai Lama from its construction in the 17th century until 50 years ago, when

the Dalai Lama, disguised as a soldier, eluded invading Chinese troops and fled to India. Since then, Buddhism in

Tibet has been suppressed, sometimes brutally.

Buddhist Stupas:72 stupas, each containing a sculpture of the Buddha in meditation were built around 800 CE and still stand in Borobudur, Indonesia.

At southern California’s Crystal Cathedral, they do everything big. With 2,700 seats and 10,000 panes of glass, this is the

Hollywood epic of megachurches.

6 billion

18 billion

300 million

# of copies of bible in

circulation (world’s best selling book)

# of faith tourism

travelers around the

world each yearAmount of revenue

generated by faith tourism

annually

• Sacred Places in Universalizing Religions– Holy Places in Islam• Holiest locations are in cities associated with Prophet Muhammad.–Holiest City is Makkah (Mecca), birthplace of Muhammad.»Now contains the holiest object in the Islamic landscape—al-Ka’ba—a cubelike structure encased in silk that stands in Islam’s largest mosque, Masjid al-Haram.

–Second-most-holy place is Madinah (Medina).»Muhammad’s tomb is in Madinah.

The Hajj:Pilgrims circle the holy Kaaba in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia during the Hajj.

Pilgrims pray at Mecca’s Grand Mosque, the obligatory destination – at least once – of all Muslims. Around the world, one in five humans turn in daily prayer toward the cube-shaped Kaaba, Islam’s holiest site, in the mosque’s

courtyard, at upper right.

In an orbit of faith, Muslim pilgrims in Mecca’s Grand Mosque walk seven times around the Kaaba. During the annual hajj, participants are required to perform the ritual at least

twice. It takes at least 5 days to complete the rites of the hajj in Mecca.

• The Landscape in Ethnic Religions– Ethnic religions are closely tied to the physical geography of a particular place.• Hindu Landscape–Hinduism closely tied to physical geography of India»Mt. Kailas is holy because it is home to Siva.»Holiest places are riverbanks and coastlines.»Hindus believe that they achieve purification by bathing in holy rivers—e.g., Ganges River

• Solstice–Special significance in some ethnic religions»Stonehenge is a prominent remnant of a pagan structure aligned so that sun rises between two stones on solstices.

• Hierarchy of Hindu holy places: Some sites are holy to Hindus throughout India; others have a regional or sectarian importance, or are important only locally.

Sacred Landscapes of Hinduism

Pilgrimages follow prescribed routes, and rituals are followed by millions.

Varanasi, India on the Ganges River where Hindus perform morning rituals.

Hindus perform aarti, an offering of lamps to the sacred Ganges in Haridwar, India, where the river leaves the

mountains and enters the plains. Here, they believe, the power of Mother Ganga to wash away sins is strong.

Following in Jesus’ steps, Brazilian evangelical Christians immerse themselves in the Jordan River, traditional site of Jesus’ baptism. Evangelicalism in Brazil has blossomed,

inspiring pilgrimages to the Holy Land.

Visions of the Virgin Mary were reported at a grotto (small cave near water) in Lourdes, France in 1858. Water from the Lourdes spring is believed to have healing powers. About 5

million pilgrims visit Lourdes every year.

St. Bernadette Soubirous – reported 18 apparitions of the Lady of Lourdes in 1858. Although she died in 1879, her body was exhumed in 1909 and several times after. Her body is said to

be incorrupt or preserved from decomposition.

Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal is famous for religious visions that took place there in 1917. Three peasant children claimed to have seen Our Lady of Fatima. The economy of the town now

relies on religious tourism.

The Virgin Mary is said to have revealed 3 secrets to the children. 1. Vision of Hell 2. End of WWI and prediction of WWII 3. Assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II

Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia, consecrated in A.D. 537, was once the largest church in the Christian world and the symbol of

Constantinople, seat of the Byzantine Empire and spiritual rival of Rome. It was converted to a mosque after the Ottoman

Turks take over. Today the massive edifice is a museum.

Judaism’s sacred text, the Torah, is lifted during one of the many services that unfold around the clock in front of the Western Wall. Beyond the wall is the Temple Mount, site of

the First and Second Temples.

15 million

175

2 million

Number of Jews in the world

Number of Jews in the New York metropolitan

area

Abraham’s age of death,

according to scripture

Dancers venerate Confucius in Qufu. Respect for ancestors, teachers, and old ways are core values of Confucianism. Now that the master’s wisdom is once again in favor in China, so are feudal costume dramas. There are 350 million followers of

Confucius.

Seeking good fortune, hands touch a stone tiger – the ancient Taoist symbol of yin – on the first day of the year of the

tiger at a Taoist monastery in Beijing.

A sacred waterfall at Japan’s Tsubaki Grand Shrine washes away impurities in a Shinto ritual that celebrates the communion of

worshipper, water, and the creative life force of the universe.

Shinto speaks of spirits called kami that dwell throughout Japan. Kami are venerated at sacred sites such as Meoto Iwa, which are rocks joined like husband and wife. Adherents of Shintoism believe there are 8 million kami in the Shinto

universe.

Shinto shrine on Mount Fuji in Japan. Most Japanese blend Shinto and Buddhism.

Sacred places In nature

The Sea of Galilee – according to Gospels, Jesus performed miracles here including walking on water, calming a storm, feeding 5,000. It is said he delivered his Sermon on the

Mount on a hill overlooking the windswept lake. The 64 square mile lake lies at the base of the Golan Heights and is

Israel’s largest body of fresh water.

Chimney Rock – stands above the San Juan National Forest in southwestern Colorado. Ancient Pueblo people considered the site sacred and built a great house close by from which they could observe the moon rising between the massive spires for two years at the end of each 18 year lunar cycle. Later in history, this site served as a landmark for conquistadores, missionaries, and prospectors. Today it is an archaeological

site, tourist destination, and place for Native American cultural gatherings.

Uluru (Ayers Rock) – this massive sandstone monolith towers over the desert sands of central Australia as one of its most recognizable natural icons. At more than 1,100 feet tall, it reaches higher than the Eiffel Tower and is believed to be between 300 and 400 million years old. To the Anangu, descendents of the ancient people who first settles the continent some 60,000 years ago, it holds great cultural significance in Aboriginal legend and religion. In 1873

British explorer William Gosse spied the rock and renamed it in honor of the premier of South Australia, Henry Ayers.

Sacred places: man-made

Stonehenge – famous cluster of stone megaliths, carefully arranged in a grassy field on England’s Salisbury Plain, is one of history’s enduring mysteries. Experts agree that

Stonehenge was erected in stages, probably between 3000 and 1500 B.C., and that the stones are aligned with the rising and setting sun and mark the passing seasons. Yet whether it was designed as an astronomical calendar or as a temple or for sun worship or for healing, its unknown builders left no records and its purpose remains unclear. Today it is a popular site

for neo-pagan solstice celebrations.

Machu Picchu – high atop a mountain range in southern Peru, half a century before the voyages of Columbus, the powerful Inca emperor Pachacuti built a majestic citadel of polished-stone palaces, chambers, and temple to the sun god. With the invasion of Spanish conquistadores, the Inca abandoned the

city, though it never came under attack. Machu Picchu – “the old mountain” – fell into ruin and was swallowed by the rain forest. In 1911, American archaeologists unearthed this “lost

city” of the Incas. Since then it has become a revered cultural site and popular tourist attraction.

Serpent Mound – it is said to be the largest effigy mound in the world, a molded 1,302 foot snake with an exaggerated eye

and a coiled tail, winding along a wooded bluff in southwestern Ohio. Scholars link the site to the Fort Ancient people who lived in the Ohio River Valley between 1000 and

1600 A.D. and buried their dead in nearby mounds. The site is believed to have been used in religious ceremonies. The head aligns with the setting sun on the summer solstice; the coils align variously with the rising sun on the summer and winter

solstices and spring and fall equinoxes.

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