Temporal Approach for Exploring Spatial Evolution at Sacred Pilgrimage Towns in India: Relevance to Contemporary Urban Planning
Abstract
This paper traces spatial development of the built form at Vrindavan through a historical narrative and explores its rootedness in the mythical sacred geography of Braj. It focuses on built form development process as a function of cultural variations in patterns of pilgrimage, patronage and governance to assimilate cultural memory embedded in the built environment. The threshold transformations in spatial patterns are explored in relation to culturalhistorical narratives to reveal their linkages. The paper upstreams the historical narrative to contemporary urban development and assesses linkages of spatial transformations to prevalent cultural patterns through empirical field study by adopting a place-based approach. The paper argues that the main drivers of contemporary urban development at Vrindavan are still derived from its sacred geography, though increasing primacy of economic factors of growth are causing mutations in the identity of the sacred town. It views contemporary built form transformations as diminishing for the cultural context, and in light of Vrindavan’s unique cultural-sacred identity advocates a need for reconsideration of built environment and urban planning strategies.References
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