God’s Own Land

God’s Own Land follows the tectonic shift from traditional religious pilgrimage in the early twentieth-century to contemporary pilgrim tourism, in which ever-burgeoning visitor numbers have brought both benefits and challenges to the Garhwal region of India—the source of Hindu India’s sacred river,...

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Huvudupphov: Lochtefeld, James G.
Materialtyp: Online
Språk:engelska
Utgiven: Lever Press 2026
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Länkar:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111765
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author Lochtefeld, James G.
author_browse Lochtefeld, James G.
author_facet Lochtefeld, James G.
author_sort Lochtefeld, James G.
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description God’s Own Land follows the tectonic shift from traditional religious pilgrimage in the early twentieth-century to contemporary pilgrim tourism, in which ever-burgeoning visitor numbers have brought both benefits and challenges to the Garhwal region of India—the source of Hindu India’s sacred river, the Ganges. Despite Hinduism’s regional and sectarian variation, India’s Garhwal Himalaya region is one the most sacred places to Hindus, drawing pilgrims across sectarian lines from throughout the subcontinent and the world. This sacred land— dev bhumi or “land of the gods”—appears in foundational Hindu stories describing the presence and activity of gods, goddesses, saints, and cultural heroes. This study from James G. Lochtefeld draws out Hindu convictions regarding the Garhwal’s eternal and continuing sanctity as a holy region, based on the premise of an “imagined landscape.” The region is strongly associated with divine activity and yet the landscape is a real place with a real history inhabited by real people, who have historically been poor because of the challenges created by the region’s geography. Juxtaposing the history of the region with its construction in the Hindu imaginary, this multidisciplinary study unpacks the nuanced image of the region, its religious significance, and the impacts of pilgrimages on the community through textual, historical, and ethnographic methods.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1738622026-03-19T14:22:13Z God’s Own Land Lochtefeld, James G. Ganges Ganga Garhwal Uttarakhand Pilgrim Pilgrimage Pilgrimage places Char Dham Yamunotri Gangotri Kedarnath Badrinath Tirtha Shiva Vishnu Goddess Local deity Hindu sages Tourism Rural development Himalayas Landscape Imagined landscape Religion and tourism Religion and social change Cultural geography Devta thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRD Hinduism God’s Own Land follows the tectonic shift from traditional religious pilgrimage in the early twentieth-century to contemporary pilgrim tourism, in which ever-burgeoning visitor numbers have brought both benefits and challenges to the Garhwal region of India—the source of Hindu India’s sacred river, the Ganges. Despite Hinduism’s regional and sectarian variation, India’s Garhwal Himalaya region is one the most sacred places to Hindus, drawing pilgrims across sectarian lines from throughout the subcontinent and the world. This sacred land— dev bhumi or “land of the gods”—appears in foundational Hindu stories describing the presence and activity of gods, goddesses, saints, and cultural heroes. This study from James G. Lochtefeld draws out Hindu convictions regarding the Garhwal’s eternal and continuing sanctity as a holy region, based on the premise of an “imagined landscape.” The region is strongly associated with divine activity and yet the landscape is a real place with a real history inhabited by real people, who have historically been poor because of the challenges created by the region’s geography. Juxtaposing the history of the region with its construction in the Hindu imaginary, this multidisciplinary study unpacks the nuanced image of the region, its religious significance, and the impacts of pilgrimages on the community through textual, historical, and ethnographic methods. 2026-03-19T14:22:12Z 2026-03-19T14:22:12Z 2026-03-17T09:07:43Z 2026 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111765 9781643151021 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/173862 eng ASIANetwork Books open access Lever Press Lever Press 10.3998/mpub.13230977 10.3998/mpub.13230977 1f7afbda-6b1b-482d-b7ae-aa8e17267d01 9781643151021 Lever Press 375 open access
spellingShingle Ganges
Ganga
Garhwal
Uttarakhand
Pilgrim
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage places
Char Dham
Yamunotri
Gangotri
Kedarnath
Badrinath
Tirtha
Shiva
Vishnu
Goddess
Local deity
Hindu sages
Tourism
Rural development
Himalayas
Landscape
Imagined landscape
Religion and tourism
Religion and social change
Cultural geography
Devta
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRD Hinduism
Lochtefeld, James G.
God’s Own Land
title God’s Own Land
title_full God’s Own Land
title_fullStr God’s Own Land
title_full_unstemmed God’s Own Land
title_short God’s Own Land
title_sort god s own land
topic Ganges
Ganga
Garhwal
Uttarakhand
Pilgrim
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage places
Char Dham
Yamunotri
Gangotri
Kedarnath
Badrinath
Tirtha
Shiva
Vishnu
Goddess
Local deity
Hindu sages
Tourism
Rural development
Himalayas
Landscape
Imagined landscape
Religion and tourism
Religion and social change
Cultural geography
Devta
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRD Hinduism
topic_facet Ganges
Ganga
Garhwal
Uttarakhand
Pilgrim
Pilgrimage
Pilgrimage places
Char Dham
Yamunotri
Gangotri
Kedarnath
Badrinath
Tirtha
Shiva
Vishnu
Goddess
Local deity
Hindu sages
Tourism
Rural development
Himalayas
Landscape
Imagined landscape
Religion and tourism
Religion and social change
Cultural geography
Devta
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History
thema EDItEUR::N History and Archaeology::NH History::NHF Asian history
thema EDItEUR::Q Philosophy and Religion::QR Religion and beliefs::QRD Hinduism
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/111765
work_keys_str_mv AT lochtefeldjamesg godsownland