SACRED SPACE

G.A. Somaratne
Centre of Buddhist Studies
The University of Hong Kong
Intro to Religious Studies -2019
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A defined space
• A sacred space is a
defined place, a
space distinguished
from other spaces.
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Markers of sacred space

• The rituals that a

people either practice
at a place or direct
toward it mark its
sacredness and
differentiate it from
other defined spaces.
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Focusing Lens
• To understand the character of sacred
places, Jonathan Z. Smith suggests the
metaphor “focusing lens”.

• A sacred place focuses attention on the

forms, objects, and actions in it and reveals
them as bearers of religious meaning.

• These symbols and symbolic actions

describe the fundamental constituents of
reality

• as a religious community perceives them,

defines a life in accordance with that view,
and provides a means of access between
the human world and the divine realities.
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Kinds of Sacred Places

• As a meaningful space, sacred
space encompasses a wide variety
of very different kinds of places.

• It includes places that are

constructed for religious purposes:
shrine, temple, church, synagogue,
gurudwara and mosque.

• The great religious traditions display

a wide variety of sacred places,
varying in shape, location, and
purpose.
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Variety of sacred places

• A sacred place can be an entire land
(India, Japan), or a city (Jerusalem,
Benares);

• or it can be a sanctified structure

(Kaaba in Mecca);

• or it can be a natural site such as a

mountain, lake, or river (the Ganges),
that is believed to have special qualities.

• Many sacred places are ancient and

historical religious shrines. Others such
as the Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City
are of more recent existence.
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Entering Sacred Space

• Sacred spaces could be
those that can be entered

• physically, as the outer

geography of a holy land,

• imaginatively, as the inner

geography of the body in
Tantric yoga, or

• visually, as the space of a

mandala.
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Character of Sacred Space

• A sacred space is different from
the surrounding area for it is not
a place of wholly human
creation or choice.

• The significance of sacred

space is often grounded in its
unique character.

• In traditional societies the whole

land is normally sacred.

• The creation myths of that

culture reveal this sacredness.
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Holy land
• The sacred land may be uniquely
created, as in the case of Japan.

• A land may become sacred because

it is given by a god, as in the case of
Israel.

• A land may be established by ritual.

• In Hinduism, the land lying to the

east of the Sadanira river was once
unfit for habitation by Brahmins. It
became fit when the sacrificial fire
was carried across the river and
established in the land.
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That which sets it apart

• A sacred place within a holy land
possesses something—a
character, a significance, or an
object—that sets it apart.

• The Hindu temples and

pilgrimage places are considered
to be intrinsically sacred.

• The holiest places of the goddess

in Hinduism are the places where
the parts of her body fell after her
suicide and dismemberment.
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Gods may choose the location

• The very ground itself may fix the worship of a
deity to a particular spot.
• The shrine at Srirangam originated in heaven.
It was brought to earth, to the city of Rama.
Rama then gave it to a pious demon, who
wished to take it with him to his home in Sri
Lanka.
• On his way, he put it down near a ford on the
Kaveri River. When he tried to pick it up again
he could not move it. The god of the temple
then appeared and told him that the river had
performed austerities to keep the shrine within
her bounds and that the god intended to stay
there.
• The current location of the temple is therefore
where the god chose it to be.
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Sanctity through signs

• The god may communicate the
special sanctity of a place
through signs.

• Animals often serve as

messengers of divine choice.

• The Aztec city of Tenochtitlan,

the capital city of the Aztec
empire (now the site of Mexico
City) was founded at the place
where an eagle landed on a
blooming cactus.
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Religiously significant events

• A location becomes holy
because of religiously
significant events that have
occurred there.

• Jerusalem has been a holy

place for Islam. It was the
Prophet’s journey there that
established its sanctity.

• Bodhgaya in India became

a holy place because it is
where Gotama attained
Enlightenment.
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Relics of holy beings

• Places may also be
made sacred through
the relics of holy beings.

• A tomb, for example,

marks not only the
separation of the living
from the dead but also
the point of contact
between them.
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The form of a place

• The form of a place may give to
it meaning and holiness.

• In different cultures, various

kinds of places suggest the
presence of deities.

• The land of Japan is holy

because it is created and
protected by the kami.

• In India, rivers and confluences

are sacred, for purifying waters
and meeting streams suggest
places where gods are present
and approachable.
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Three Functions/ roles of Sacred Space

• Sacred space is a means
of communication with
the gods and about the
gods.

• Sacred space is a place

of divine power.

• Sacred space serves as

visible icon of the world
and thereby gives a form
to it and an organization
to its inhabitants (people).
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Places of Communication
• Sacred space is a place of
communication with the sacred. It
is where people go to meet the
gods.
• This function is often shown by
symbols that represent a link
between the world of humans and
divine realms.
• Such symbols might be vertical
objects that reach from earth
toward heaven, such as
mountains, trees, ropes, pillars,
and poles.
• Hindu temples connect the realm
of heaven with the plane of earth.
The roofs of these temples also
look like mountains.
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Intersection of realms
• Symbols that express
the intersection of
realms can be of other
forms as well.
• In Byzantine churches,
to walk from the
entrance toward the
altar is to move from
the world of humans
toward that of divinity.
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Points of contact
• Another way of joining gods and
humans is through symbols of
the gods: images of gods and
other tokens (signs, symbols,
objects).
• Even without explicit symbols of
communication or tokens of the
gods, a place may be
understood as a point of contact
between the gods and humans.
• Muslims understand Kaaba as
a place of particular access to
God.
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A place of purity
• Sacred space is a place of
purity because purity
enables people to come in
contact with the gods.

• The sacred place reveals

the ideal order of things.

• Sacred places mark the

movement from a zone of
impurity to one of purity by
defining an intermediate
space for rites of purification.
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Places of Divine Power

• A sacred place can be a place
of communication not only with
gods but also about gods.
• It is a place for holy power,
which can transform human life.
• The nature of this
transformation varies according
to the religious tradition and
reputation of the sacred space.
• Sacred spaces provide “benefit”
(bhukti) and “salvation” (mukti).
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Place of healing
• One benefit is healing.
A place may even
specialize in its cures.
• The mountain
Arunacala (a place of
god Shiva) heals
especially lung disease
and barrenness.
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Salvation
• Success in business or in school,
the birth of children, or simply the
blessing of the deity may all be
reasons to visit a sacred place.
• Salvation can also be attained at
sacred places.
• According to Hinduism, to die at
Benares, to be cremated there, or
to disperse the ashes of the dead
in the Ganges river at Benares
assures salvation for the dead.
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Places of Icons of the World

• Sacred space is a visual metaphor
for a religious world.
• The connection between the ordering
of space and the ordering of human
life is a natural one.
• A life without purpose or meaning is
often expressed in spatial
metaphors: it is to be “lost,”
“disoriented,” and “without direction.”
• Sacred places are natural maps that
provide direction to life and a shape
to the world.
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Mircea Eliade’s view on Sacred Places

• Sacred places fulfill three primary functions for
believers:

• (1) They act as places in which worshippers can

communicate with the divine, through prayer, ritual, or
contact with an image.

• (2) They contain a permanent divine presence that

draws people, with the expectation of receiving
blessings, healing, forgiveness, spiritual merit, or
salvation.

• (3) Their layout and design in terms of the art,

architecture, music, and drama represent an ideal of
that religion in its purest form.
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Attributes of sacred places

• Eliade's theory brings out three
different attributes of sacred places:

• (1) behaviors attributed to gods,

• (2) the behavior of the worshippers at

these sites, and

• (3) the physical design of these sites.

• From this angle, sacred spaces are

religious centers at which the
heavenly and earthly meet, where
sites act as bridges between the
human and divine worlds.
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Communicate with the divine

• Sacred places provide the opportunity
for worshippers to communicate with
the divine, receive gifts, and gain
insight into greater meanings and, as
such, become religious centers for
many believers.

• Mount Kailash in the Himalayas is

sacred to Hindus. It lies near the
source of several of the most sacred
rivers in the region and is believed to
be the home of the God Shiva and his
consort Parvati. It is believed to be too
sacred to climb, but the area around it
is a major site for pilgrimage.
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microcosm
• Some holy sites like the Temple
Mount in Jerusalem are all historical,
spiritual, and cosmological centers
and are associated with the act of
creation, the beginning of time, or the
end of days.

• Pilgrims who journey to such sacred

places therefore travel toward the
center, seeking in the sacred space
the microcosm both of the universe
and of the specific religion it
represents.
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Primary places of worship

• Places of worship—such as temples for
Hindus and Buddhists, gurdwaras for
Sikhs, synagogues for Jews, churches
for Christians, and mosques for
Muslims—are considered sacred
places.

• Yet these places of worship are often

not the primary sacred places of a
religion.

• Many sacred sites that constitute a

central aspect or component of the
religion stress links with the founder or
other important figure in the history of
the religion.
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Direct exchange with gods

• At such primary sacred sites,
believers hope for the clearest and
most direct exchange with gods.

• Mecca, in Saudi Arabia, is a

historically significant sacred place for
Muslims, whereas the mosques where
they worship on a day-to-day basis
have a different level of significance.

• Mecca is the birthplace of Prophet

Muhammad. It houses the great
Masjid al-Haram and is the holiest city
in Islam and a place of pilgrimage for
Muslims all over the world.
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Rules and regulations

• Sacred places are attractive and
coveted because they offer
access to the divine; however, at
the same time, they pose the risk
of desecration.

• A sacred site therefore carries

with it a whole range of rules and
regulations regarding access and
people's behavior in relation to it.
Such restrictions or prohibitions
on behavior become necessary
as these sites are often prone to
destruction.
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Restrictions and prohibitions

• The restrictions and taboos define the
relationship between god or gods and
the people. Offending deities is
believed to carry danger.

• In Judaism and Sikhism, people are

required to cover their heads when
entering sacred places. In Islam,
Hinduism, and Sikhism, shoes need
to be removed before entering places
of worship. Muslims are required to
wash their feet and faces and Hindus
must bathe before entering a place of
worship or a shrine.
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Institutionalization of sacred places

• Control of access to and
behavior toward sacred
places has resulted in
these places being
managed by priests and
the religious community,
leading to the
institutionalization of
sacred places.
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Group discussion
• There will be a group discussion to be announced in
class.