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Gangasagar, Where the Holy River Ganga Meets the Sea: Puranic Folklores, Rituals, Intrinsic Values, and Cultural Renaissance
DOI:  10.53136/97912218172182
Pagine: 195-214
Data di pubblicazione: Febbraio 2025
Editore: Aracne
This study discusses the importance of Gangasagar in India as a sacral power centre, illuminated by the liquid energy of the holy Ganga River, a nourishing river for Sanatana Hindu culture and civilisation. The Ganga originated from the Himalayas, nourishing the land, and merging into the sea at Gangasagar, part of Sagar Island. On the auspicious day of the winter solstice, called Makar Saṁkrānti, the place converges into a distinct energy point metaphorically and metaphysically described in the ancient treatises and Purāṇic texts. According to Purāṇic folklore, sage Kapila Muni advised the grandson of Sagar, honouring his devotion, to bring the celestial Ganga River to flow over the ashes of the departed sons of Sagar to get their lives back. Over time, his great-grandson Bhagirath successfully performed the task by pleasing Brahma and Shiva, the divine trinity in Sanatana Hindu Dharma. The Kapila Muni temple is the central place (sacral nexus) in the Gangasagar sacred territory. Purāṇic folklores are the agent of various niches of placemaking, interlinked with aesthetic and symbolic meanings in Sagar Island, which has promoted pilgrimage tourism over time. A research gap lies in understanding the genius loci for Gangasagar, which is responsible for recreating the space for the devotees through their imagery perceptions of the divine essence. This paper attempts to analyse the faithscapes resulting from human emotions and spiritual interconnectedness as a cosmic whole, where culture-nature symbiosis results in the frame of geopiety, forming a cosmic aura of spiritual atmosphere. It is strongly expected that the study will help to widen the path of RWYC- Reconnecting With Your Culture through understanding, awakening, and being part of the developments.
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