Sustaining the cultural identity of a sacred city: a case of Ujjain

Abstract

For thousands of years, sacred space has shaped and provided meaning to our cities and urban communities. Despite the development of cities in all other fields, sacred places are still the vital part of our urban communities. Urban areas are now experiencing tremendous growth and change but without considering cultural values and traditions. Hundreds of urban sacred places, culture and heritage are lost every year due to negligence. Many cultures around the world attach sacred values to natural and cultural sites. Landscape of a place has a mythical notion attached to it which narrates a historic event and has a sacred significance attached to it. People in India have been worshiping these sacred landscapes since history. Hence it is necessary to study the historical and cultural aspect of these sacred landscapes so as to protect it for the future generations. The ancient land of India is blessed with many of the pilgrim places which are extensively associated with the nature. There has always been an intimate connection between community and nature. People consider themselves as a part of natural world and are associated and dependent in multiple economic, social, cultural, spiritual dimensions with their inherent natural setting. These pilgrim places attract a huge amount of pilgrims from various parts of the country every year. There is a rapid increase in floating population during festivals which has a high impact on the built environment in these places. The meaning and relevance of pilgrim places in India from urban design perspective is often overlooked during the development of our built environment. Hence significance of these places in Indian cities deserves more attention than it has received until now. The proposal aims to provide platform to the craftsmen, to revive the scared lakes making them active and accessible, strengthening great religious and cultural image of the city. Broader strategy is to keep the cultural identity of the place intact while bringing possibilities to uplift the intangible heritage.