Comprehending genius loci, towards spiritual sustainability
Lessons from Buddhist heritage city Anuradhapura
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5700697 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Wasana De Silva (0000-0003-4924-9037, Architecture, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2023 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2023-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Heritage Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1352-7258 • E-ISSN: 1470-3610 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13527258.2023.2169333 |
| OpenAlex | W4318995825 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 32 |
The world heritage city Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, significant for spiritually cherished spatial orientation manifests in the city; reflecting ‘spiritual sustainability’, that integrates nature, natural elements, topography, built elements with the performances of people. This research examines comprehending ‘genius loci’ in heritage city Anuradhapura, and how this occurrence relates to spiritual sustainability. It explores in-depth dimensions of the place, related to ‘spiritual orientation’; a novel approach for understanding heritage sites. This paper proposes an original interdisciplinary study and method to examine ‘spiritual sustainability’ of the place and meanings by employing contextual concepts, and generalised concepts. It utilises Buddhist concepts, to explore in-depth meanings of the place, attached with the locus, vision, and cultural/religious views. Further, it discusses how these meanings shape and sustain the heritage city between divine/mundane dimensions. The same universal concept flourished upon architecture, landscape, villages and cities, from pre-history to the Buddhist city Anuradhapura, gathered in the same locus comprehending ‘genius loci’, established ‘spiritual sustainability’. In conclusion, the Buddhist heritage city sustains between physical and non-physical dimensions, a dynamic process, reveal more in-depth meanings of the place. This study presents a new insight to value heritage places and a new perspective for sustainable developments
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Art history · Buddhism · Cultural heritage · Environmental ethics · Genius · Sociology · Sustainability · Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation · Geographies of human-animal interactions · History · Philosophy · Religious Tourism and Spaces · Architecture · Ecology
Patterns in comparative religion.
Science in action
The Fate of Place
Naked City
Common ground and shared frontiers in heritage conservation and sustainable development
Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Development
Aligning agendas for sustainable development in the post 2015 world
Water symbolism and sacred landscape in Hinduism
Towards the De-secularisation of Heritage
Walking together
Sustainable development and cultural heritage management in Botswana
Festivals, Rituals, and Urban Landscape in Eighteenth-Century Maharashtra
The Yamuna Riverfront, India
Embodied Space(s)
Phenomenology of Perception
The lived body
Poetry, language, thought
Landscape, care and the relational self
The Embodied Mind
Cultural geography
Harnessing cultural heritage for sustainable development
A phenomenology of landscape
Footprints through the weather-world
Time and Landscape
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,67 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |