LANDSCAPES IN INDIA : FORMS AND MEANINGS

Book Code: 1111026495179

Amita Sinha

ABOUT THE BOOK

Landscapes  in  India,  as  elsewhere,  inspire built  forms,  mirror  social  order,  and represent  cultural  identity.  They  can  be read  like  languages,  as  arrangements  of symbols   that   reveal   cul tural   values. Natural  archetypes  can  be  traced  to  the transcendentalist  view  of  nature  and  are expressed  in  rivers,  mountains,  or  a combination  of  hills,  water  bodies  and tree  groves, found  in  every sacred  site  in the   Indian   subcontinent .   Spatial archetypes  are  the  basis  of  architectural form  and  space  insettlements   and buildings. South Asian landscapes—rich with  for malized  symbols,   from  the Cosmic  Tree  in  sacred  groves  to  cities patterned  on  mandalas—are  expressive  of archetypes  universal  to  humankind  and externalize   deeply   felt   emotions   of relationship  with  the  divine  and  social kinship. This book explores the interface between  nature,  culture,  and  the  built landscape  by  tracing  the  meaning  of archetypal  symbols  in  Indic  mythology, ritual space, vernacular architecture, and contemporary  design  practice.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amita  Sinha  is  the  author  of  Cultural Landscapes  of  India:  Imagined,  Enacted, and  Reclaimed  (University  of Pittsburgh  Press,  2020)  that  won  the  2022  J.B. Jackson  Book  Award.  She  is  the  co-editor of  Cultural  Landscapes  of  South  Asia: Studies  in  Heritage  Conservation  and Management  (Routledge,  2017)  that  won  the   2018   Environmental   Design Research  Association  (EDRA)  Award. She was a Senior Fulbright Researcher at the  Indian  National  Trust  for  Art  and Cultural  Heritage  (INTACH)  in  New Delhi  in  2009  and  was  the  recipient  of F u l bright - Nehru   Academic   and Professional   Excellence   Award Fellowship in 2018-19. She received the National  Merit Award,  American  Society of  Landscape  Architects  for  Cultural Heritage Project on Taj Mahal, India, in 2001 .   A   former   Professor   in   the Department  of  Landscape  Architecture at  the  University  of  Illinois  at  Urbana Champaign (1989-2018),  she  has taught in  the  Department  of  Architecture  and Regional  Planning,  IIT  Kharagpur  and in  the  Humanities  and  Social  Sciences Department  at  IIT  Gandhi nagar  in India.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments  ---------------------- 9
List of Illustrations   ---------------------- 11
PART ONE : INTRODUCTION   ---------------------- 15
Chapter One: Landscape Archetypes   ---------------------- 37
Chapter Two: Nature: A Transcendentalist View   ---------------------- 55
PART TWO:NATURAL  ARCHETYPES  ...................................................73
Chapter Three: Nature in Ramayana ................................................................. 77
Chapter Four: Landscapes and the Ramayana Legend  ----------------------  97
Chapter Five: Sacred Landscape of Braj   ----------------------...................... 115
Chapter Six: The Cosmic Tree in Buddhist Landscapes   ---------------------- 127
Chapter Seven: Kalika at Pavagadh: Landscape of the
Mother Goddess  ...............................................................................................147
PART THREE: SPATIAL ARCHETYPES..........................................................159
Chapter Eight: Design of Settlements in Vaastu Shastras..........................................163
Chapter Nine: Social and Spatial Order in Villages..................................................177
Chapter Ten: The Void as Center: Courtyard Dwellings...........................................195
PART FOUR:ARCHETYPES AND  DESIGN.....................................................207
Chapter Eleven: Implication for Pilgrimage Sites.......................................................213
Chapter Twelve: Implication for Environmental Design..............................................221
Chapter Thirteen: Visions for the Future..................................................................233
Glossary.................................................................................................................247
Bibliography...........................................................................................................251
Index........................................................................................................................265