Most of South Asia’s tourism is based upon the region’s pervasive religious heritage. This book provides a descriptive and conceptual examination of religious heritage in South Asia and how this tangible and intangible heritage is utilized as one of the region’s most significant tourism assets.
The book covers the living and built cultural heritage of South Asia’s main religions, both those that originated in the region and those introduced from outside. In particular, it focuses on the cultural past and present of Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism, and Christianity, as well as other spiritualities and faith traditions that combine to create a unique and engaging religious heritagescape which is a crucial part of the tourism product in all seven countries of the region. Pilgrimage mobilities, religious tourism, spiritual architecture and built environments, tantric practices, marketing and management principles and challenges, heritage development, market demand, conservation, death and dying, sacred geographies, and many other principles form the core of the book.
This collection of essays and cases aims to provide native perspectives on the challenges and opportunities of religious tourism in South Asia. As such, it appeals to researchers and upper-level students of tourism, geography, religious and heritage studies, anthropology, and South Asian studies.
Most of South Asia’s tourism is based upon the region’s pervasive religious heritage. This book provides a descriptive and conceptual examination of religious heritage in South Asia and how this tangible and intangible heritage is utilized as one of the region’s most significant tourism assets.
1. Introduction: Key Concepts in Religious Heritage and Tourism in South
Asia
2. Hindu Religious Heritage and Tourism
3. Islamic Heritage, Religious
Travel, and Tourism in South Asia
4. South Asia: The Roots of Buddhism
5.
Religious Tourism at Sikh Holy Places in South Asia
6. Jain Heritage and
Tourism in India
7. Colonialism, Christianity, and Heritage Tourism in South
Asia
8. Philosophical Underpinnings of Yoga Tourism in Contemporary Times
9.
Saints, Devotional Empires, and Neo-Heritage Destinations
10. The
(Re)Production of Religious Heritage for Tourism in South Asia
11.
Pilgrimage, Thresholds, and Sacred Geographies of Death
12. Marketing
Religious Heritage for Tourism in South Asia
13. Pilgrimage Circuits, Folk
Religion, and Migration: The Cults of the Vindhyanchal and Deccan Regions
14.
The Perils of 'Conserving and Safeguarding' Religious Heritage Sites in India
15. Religious Events and Performances for Tourism in South Asia
16.
Sustaining Religious Heritage for Tourism in South Asia: Issues and Challenges
Dallen J. Timothy is Professor of Community Resources and Development at Arizona State University, USA, and Senior Global Futures Scientist at the Julie Anne Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory. He is also a visiting professor at centers and programs in Spain, China, Mexico, Jordan, South Africa, and Azerbaijan. Professor Timothy is the founding editor of the Journal of Heritage Tourism and serves on the editorial boards of 25 scientific journals.
Kiran A. Shinde works on religious and cultural heritage, tourism, urban planning, destination management, and related topics. With five books and over 70 research articles published in high-ranking journals and books with reputed publishers, he is considered a leading scholar in research on religious, cultural, and heritage tourism and their intersections with urban planning and management.
