Chapter-1

INTRODUCTION
The English word ‗Culture‘ is derived from the Latin term ‗cult or cultus‘
meaning tilling, or cultivating or refining and worship. In sum it means
cultivating and refining a thing to such an extent that its end product
evokes our admiration and respect.

This is practically the same as ‗Sanskriti‘ of the Sanskrit language. The

term ‗Sanskriti‘ has been derived from the root 'Kri' (to do) of Sanskrit
language. Three words came from this root 'Kri':- 'prakriti' (basic matter
or condition), ‗sanskriti‘ (refined matter or condition) and ‗vikriti‘
(modified or decayed matter or condition) when ‗prakriti‘ or a raw
material is refined it becomes ‗Sanskriti‘ and when broken or damaged it
becomes ‗vikriti‘.

Culture is a way of life. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, the
language we speak, and the God we worship, all are aspects of culture. In
very simple terms, we can say that culture is the embodiment of the way
in which we think and do things. It is also the things that we have
inherited as members of society. All the achievements of human beings as
members of social groups can be called culture. Art, music, literature,
architecture, sculpture, philosophy, religion and science can be seen as
aspects of culture. However, culture also includes the customs, traditions,
festivals, ways of living and one‘s outlook on various issues of life.

Culture thus refers to a human-made environment which includes all the

material and non-material products of group life that are transmitted
from one generation to the next. There is a general agreement among
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social scientists that culture consists of explicit and implicit patterns of

behavior acquired by human beings. These may be transmitted through
symbols, constituting the distinctive achievements of human groups,
including their embodiment as artifacts. The essential core of culture
thus lies in those finer ideas which are transmitted within a group-both
historically derived as well as selected with their attached value. More
recently, culture denotes historically transmitted patterns of meanings
embodied in symbols, by means of which people communicate,
perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and express their attitudes
toward life.

Culture is the expression of our nature in our modes of living and

thinking. It may be seen in our literature, in religious practices, in
recreation and enjoyment. Culture has two distinctive components,
namely, material and non-material. Material culture consists of objects
that are related to the material aspect of our life such as our dress, food,
and household goods. Non-material culture refers to ideas, ideals,
thoughts and beliefs.

Culture varies from place to place and country to country. Its

development is based on the historical process operating in a local,
regional or national context. For example, we differ in our ways of
greeting others, our clothing, food habits, social and religious customs
and practices from the West. In other words, the people of any country
are characterized by their distinctive cultural traditions.

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Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art,

moral, law, custom, and any other capability and habits acquired by a
man as a member of society.

- Edward Taylor

In "Culture : A critical review of concept and definition" (1952), A.L.

Krober and clyde cited 164 definition of culture ranging from learned
behavior to ideas in mind, a logical construct, a statistical fiction.

Culture is symbolic communication. Some of its symbol include a group's

skill, knowledge, attitudes, value, and motives. The meaning of symbol of
learned and deliberately perpetuated in a society through its institution.

1.1 COMPONENT OF CULTURE

There are 6 different components which relates to the culture.

1.1.1 Cultural traits

A culture trait is a learned system of beliefs, values, traditions, symbols

and meanings that are passed from one generation to another within a
specific community of people. Culture traits identify and coalesce a
community because traits express the cohesiveness of the group.

There are seven primary culture traits: learned behaviors, transmission of

information, symbolism, flexibility, integration, ethnocentrism and
adaptation. People acquire cultural traits as they grow up in environments
surrounded by others with similar ideas and concepts. Cultural traits are
part of the larger system of culture that includes a network of behaviors,
values, beliefs and norms.

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1.1.2 Cultural complex

Cultural complex is combination of different cultural traits in distinctive

ways. Common values, beliefs, behaviors and artifacts that make one
place distinct.

According to Hoebel, ―Cultural complexes are nothing but larger clusters

of traits organized about some nuclear point of reference‖. Cultural traits,
as we know, do not usually appear singly or independently. They are
customarily associated with other restated traits to from cultural complex.

The importance of a single trait is indicated when it first go in to a cluster

of traits, each one of which performs a significant role in the total
complex. Thus, kneeling before the idol, sprinkling sacred water over it,
putting some food in its mouth, folding hands, taking ‗prashad‘ from the
priest and singing ‗arati‘ form a religious complex.

1.1.3 Cultural system

Cultural system is a group of inter connected cultural complexes. It is an

area with strong cultural ties that bind its people.

1.1.4 Cultural region

A culture region is a portion of Earth‘s surface that has common cultural

elements and has distinct cultural authority from other regions.

Culture regions, like cultures themselves, display considerable variety.

For starters, any number of cultural components may be used to define
culture regions. A map of religions, for example, includes a shaded area
in India where Hinduism is dominant.

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When someone sees the words Hindu cultural region, he or she may
logically infer that only Hindus live there. But that is not true. The region
also is home to millions of Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, and other
non-Hindus. Culture regions exhibit certain diversity—their titles identify
a dominant characteristic but do not necessarily mean that everybody who
lives there shares that characteristic. One should understand that diversity
typically exists within a culture region through the use of specific
examples, to avoid making logical assumptions that are nevertheless
wrong.

Religion Map of India

Note: Differently coloured states denote significant minorities only.

FIGURE-1.1: Concentration of Religious Minority

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0.37%
0.70% 0.24%

2.30% 1.72%
14.23%

79.80%

Hindu Muslim Christian Sikh Buddhist Jain Others

GRAPH-1.1: Percentage of Religious Population In India

Culture regions differ greatly in size. Some are exceedingly large, like the
Islamic culture region that encompasses millions of square miles of North
Africa and Southwest Asia. Some are very small, like Spanish Harlem,
which encompasses about two square miles of New York. Many others
are of intermediate size, like the Corn Belt, which occupies a portion of
the Midwestern United States.

Culture regions can be found in urban, suburban, or rural settings. Many

cities contain ethnic neighborhoods. Basically, these are urban culture
regions whose borders are defined by the locations of specific cultural
communities. Different cities around the world have ethnic mixes.
Urban fringes the world over also exhibit cultural differences.

Rural parts of the world may differ on the basis of language, religion, or
some other cultural component as agriculture type or dominant crop.

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Rural culture regions may be dominated by cattle ranches, rice fields,

banana plantations, or some other form of agriculture.

1.1.5 Cultural Realms

A cultural realm is a geographical region where cultural traits maintain

homogeneity. The cultural traits are supposed to be the product of
regional geographical circumstances. It is, thus, regional geography
which has become the basis of the delineation of cultural realms in the
world. Ratzel‘s concept of cultural landscape provided encouragement to
geographers for culture regionalization.

Blache and Spencer are other geographers who considered the study of
cultural realms as an important part of human geography. Apart from the
geographers, historians, anthropologists and sociologists have also tried
to regionalize the world into cultural realms. The variables of culture
include the economic organization, social customs, traditional values,
dietary habits, dress patterns, language and uniformity in physical
characteristics. On the basis of these variables, various cultural realms
can be identified.

Brock Webb tried to establish the dominance of a particular phenomenon

over the evolution of cultural landscape. He found that the impact of
religious values is tremendous over the entire cultural system. All over
the world, human beliefs, day-to-day activities and even dress patterns,
food habits and social values are influenced by religious messages. To
many geographers, religious messages are also influenced by regional
geography. A cultural religious investigation reveals that the culture of a
particular region becomes ineffective once the religious impact is
withdrawn. Considering these phenomena, Brock Webb divided the

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world into four major and two minor cultural realms. The major cultural
realms are Occidental Realm, Islamic Realm, Indian Realm, East Indian
Realm and the minor cultural realms are South-East Asian Realm, Meso-
African or Negro African Realm

1.1.5.1 Major Cultural Realms of the World

1. Occidental Culture
a) West European
b) Continental European
c) Mediterranean
d) Anglo American
e) Australian
f) Latin American
2. Islamic Culture
3. Indic Culture
4. South East Asian Culture

1.1.5.1.1 Occidental Realm

Occidental culture is the culture of the European society. It is influenced

to a great extent by Christianity. It has regional modifications on the basis
of varying levels of industrialisation, political and economic thought,
colonisation, commercialisation, urbanisation, and development of
transport system, land development of social, political and economic
institutions.

In many parts of the occidental culture, the impact of non-religious

factors, particularly the effect of modernisation, is so great that the
religious values are sidelined. Post-industrial Europe is fast emerging as a

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society where traditional values are nearly abandoned. The occidental

culture covers a vast area. It is further divided into six sub-regions
considering the impact of regional environment.

(i) West European is the most industrialized and urbanized culture.

(ii) Continental European culture is influenced by different political

and economic thoughts, while Christianity remains an important
influence

(iii) Mediterranean Europe includes countries lying to the south of

the Alps. It is the region of dominance of Christianity. To many
geographers, the deep-rooted traditional social system is the
principal cause of limited economic development in countries
like Spain, Portugal and southern Italy, compared to countries
of northern and western Europe which adopted necessary
changes in their social systems.

(iv) Anglo-American and

(v) Australian cultural realms are practically the offspring‘s of west

European culture. Both are inhabited by migrants from west
Europe. There are only some regional differences.

(vi) Latin American culture is very similar to the Mediterranean

culture. It is the only region of occidental culture which lies in
the tropics and is underdeveloped. It became a part of the
occidental culture as a result of conversion of tribes into
Christianity. The colonial languages, Spanish and Portuguese,
have become the state languages. Regional architecture has
been influenced by the Spanish and Portuguese styles.

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Practically all countries maintain economic, cultural and social

ties with the Mediterranean countries.

1.1.5.1.2 Islamic Cultural Realm

The culture here is influenced by Islamic values. It covers a vast

geographical area from Morocco in the west to Pakistan in the east. The
population is sparsely distributed due to inhospitable environment. The
coasts, river basins and oases have been the cradles of Arabian culture in
this realm. The British call it the Middle-East while the Germans call it a
"region of oriental culture". This cultural realm lies between the
traditional Indian culture in the east and the modernized European culture
in the west.

Islamic culture is highly orthodox and based on traditional beliefs, the

impact of which can be seen in high female illiteracy rates. These
countries have very high per capita incomes, but the level of
modernization is very low.

1.1.5.1.3 Indic Cultural Realm

This is the culture of the Indian sub-continent. Baker called it a sub-

continental culture, while D. Stamp used the term paddy culture. This
cultural realm is well-defined; it lies between Himalayas in the north and
Indian Ocean in the south.

This cultural realm is characterized by joint family, village community,

caste system, semi- feudal land relations, subsistence agriculture, paddy
farming, seasonal climate changes and agricultural season coming at the
same time all over the region. The culture of this region is greatly
influenced by Vedic values. Though the region is inhabited by various

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communities, the social system has the hidden impact of Vedic cultural
values.

1.1.5.1.4 East Asian Culture

This culture is basically a Buddhist culture with regional modifications.

True Buddhist culture can be seen in South Korea and Japan. Even these
two countries have felt the impact of industrialization, urbanization and
modernization. The culture of mainland China has modified the Buddhist
system. This culture was adopted after the Second World War. (Source-
Culture : A Geographical Perspective, Charles A. Heatwole)

FIGURE-1.2: Cultural Realms of the Modern World

1.1.6 Globalization

Globalization is the increasing interaction of people, states, or countries

through the growth of the international flow of money, ideas, and culture.
Globalization is primarily an economic process of integration that has
social and cultural aspects. It involves goods and services, and the

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economic resources of capital, technology, and data. The steam

locomotive, steamship, jet engine, and container ships are some of the
advances in the means of transport while the rise of the telegraph and its
modern offspring, the Internet and mobile phones show development
in telecommunications infrastructure. All of these improvements we
enjoy in the modern era have been major factors in globalization and have
generated further interdependence of economic and cultural activities.

Though many scholars place the origins of globalization in modern times,

others trace its history long before the European Age of Discovery and
voyages to the New World, some even to the third millennium
BC. Large-scale globalization began in the 1820s. In the late 19th century
and early 20th century, the connectivity of the world's economies and
cultures grew very quickly. The term globalization is recent, only
establishing its current meaning in the 1970s.

In 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identified four basic

aspects of globalization: trade and transactions, capital and investment
movements, migration and movement of people, and the dissemination of
knowledge. Further, environmental challenges such as global warming,
cross-boundary water and air pollution, and over-fishing of the ocean are
linked with globalization. Globalizing processes affect and are affected
by business and work organization, economics, socio-cultural resources,
and the natural environment. Commonly globalization subdivides into
three major areas: Economic Globalization, Cultural Globalization,
and Political Globalization

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CULTURAL GLOBLIZATION

Cultural globalization refers to the transmission of ideas, meanings,

and values around the world in such a way as to extend and
intensify social relations. This process is marked by the common
consumption of cultures that have been diffused by the Internet, popular
culture media, and international travel. This has added to processes
of commodity exchange and colonization which have a longer history of
carrying cultural meaning around the globe. Globalization has become
one of the key concepts in economics, politics and literature. This refers
to the increasing exchange of goods, people and ideas.

The circulation of cultures enables individuals to partake (join) in

extended social relations that cross national and regional borders. The
creation and expansion of such social relations is not merely observed on
a material level. Cultural globalization involves the formation of shared
norms and knowledge with which people associate their individual and
collective cultural identities. It brings increasing interconnectedness
among different populations and cultures.

A visible aspect of the cultural globalization is the diffusion of certain

cuisines such as American fast food chains. The two most successful
global food and beverage outlets, McDonald's and Starbucks, are
American companies often cited as examples of globalization, with over
36,000 and 24,000 locations operating worldwide respectively as of
2015. The "Big Mac Index" is an informal measure of purchasing power
parity among world currencies.

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1.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURE

(1) Culture is learnt

Culture is not inherited biologically but learnt socially by man. It is

not an inborn tendency.

Unlearned behavior such as closing the eyes while sleeping is

purely physiological. Wearing clothes, combing the hair, wearing
ornaments, cooking the food, reading newspaper, singing, worship, are
always behavior learned by man culturally.

(2) Culture is Social

Culture does not exist in isolation neither it is an individual

phenomena. It is a product of society. It originates and developed through
social interaction. It is shared by the member of society; It is a culture
which helps man to developed human quality in our environment.

(3) Culture is Shared

Culture in sociological sense, is something shared. It is not

something that an individual‘s alone can possess e.g. customs tradition
beliefs, idea, value, morals, etc are shared by the people of group or
society.

"Culture is something adopted, used believed practiced or

possessed by more than one person it depends upon group life for its
existence.

- Robert Brerstedt

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(4) Culture is Trans-missive

Culture is capable of being transmitted from one generation to the

next. Parents pass on cultural traits to there children and they in turn to
their children and so on. Culture is transmitted not through genes but by
the language. It is the main vehicle of culture.

Language in its different form like reading, writing, and speaking

make it possible for the present generation to understand the
achievements of earlier generations.

(5) Culture is Continuous and Cumulative

Culture exists as a continuous process. In its historical growth it

tends to become cumulative culture may be conceived of as a kind of
stream flowing down through the centuries from one generation to
another.

(6) Culture is Dynamic and Adaptive

Though culture is relatively stable it is not altogether static. It is

subject to slow but constant change. Change and growth are latent in
culture.

(7) Culture is Gratifying

Culture provides proper opportunity and prescribes means for the

satisfaction of our needs and desire. This need may be biological or social
in nature. Culture determines and guides the varied activity of man.

Some other characteristics of culture are-

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(8) Culture is Unconscious,

(9) Culture is integrated
(10) Culture is Symbolic
(11) Culture is way of life
(12) Culture is Universal

1.3 CULTURE AND CIVILIZATION:

The word ‗culture‘ and ‗civilization‘ are often used synonymously.

However, they have clearly defined meanings differentiating them.
‗Civilization‘ means having better ways of living and sometimes making
nature bend to fulfill their needs. It also includes organizing societies into
politically well-defined groups working collectively for improved
conditions of life in matters of food, dress, communication, and so on.
Thus some groups consider themselves as civilized and look down upon
others. This disposition of certain groups has even led to wars and
holocausts, resulting in mass destruction of human beings. e.g. ISIS
brutalities in Iraq and Syria.

On the other hand ‗culture‘ refers to the inner being, a refinement of head
and heart. This includes arts and sciences, music and dance and various
higher pursuits of human life which are also classified as cultural
activities. One who may be poor and wearing cheap clothes may be
considered ‗uncivilized‘, but still he or she may be the most cultured
person. One possessing ostentatious wealth may be considered as
‗civilized‘ but he may not be cultured.

Therefore, when we think of culture, we have to understand that it is

different from civilization. As we have seen, culture is the ‗higher levels
of inner refinement‘ of a human being. Humans are not merely physical

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beings. They live and act at three levels: physical, mental and spiritual.
While better ways of living socially and politically and better utilization
of nature around us may be termed as civilization. This is not enough to
be cultured. Only when the deeper levels of a person‘s intellect and
consciousness are brought into expression can we call him/her ‗cultured‘

1.4 CULTURE AND HERITAGE

Cultural development is a historical process. Our ancestors learnt many

things from their predecessors. With the passage of time they also added
to it from their own experience and gave up those which they did not
consider useful. We in turn have learnt many things from our ancestors.
As time goes we continue to add new thoughts, new ideas to those
already existent and sometimes we give up some which we don‘t
consider useful any more. This is how culture is transmitted and carried
forward from generation to next generation. The culture we inherit from
our predecessors is called our cultural heritage. This heritage exists at
various levels. Humanity as a whole has inherited a culture which may
be called human heritage. A nation also inherits a culture which may be
termed as national cultural heritage.

Cultural heritage includes all those aspects or values of culture

transmitted to human beings by their ancestors from generation to
generation. They are cherished, protected and maintained by them with
unbroken continuity and they feel proud of it.

A few examples would be helpful in clarifying the concept of heritage.

The Taj Mahal, Swami Narayan Temple of Gandhinagar and Delhi, Red
Fort of Agra, Delhi‘s Qutub Minar, Mysore Palace, Jain Temple of
Dilwara (Rajasthan), Nizamuddin Aulia‘s Dargah, Golden Temple of

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Amritsar, Gurudwara Sisganj of Delhi, Sanchi Stupa, Christian Church

in Goa, India Gate etc., are all important places of our heritage and are to
be protected by all means.

Besides the architectural creations, monuments, material artifacts, the

intellectual achievements, philosophy, treasures of knowledge, scientific
inventions and discoveries are also the part of heritage. In Indian context
the contributions of Baudhayan, Aryabhatta, Bhaskaracharya in the field
of Mathematics, Astronomy and Astrology; Kanad and Varahmihir in
the field of Physics; Nagarjuna in the field of Chemistry, Susruta and
Charak in the field of Medicines and Patanjali in the field of Yoga are
profound treasures of Indian cultural heritage. Culture is liable to
change, but our heritage does not. We individuals, belonging to a culture
or a particular group, may acquire or borrow certain cultural traits of
other communities/cultures, but our belongingness to Indian cultural
heritage will remain unchanged. Our Indian cultural heritage will bind us
together e.g. Indian literature and scriptures namely Vedas, Upanishads
Gita and Yoga System etc. have contributed a lot by way of providing
right knowledge, right action, behavior and practices as complementary
to the development of civilization.( Source- NIOS)

1.5 CULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT

"Culture is the be all and end all of development"

- L.S. Senghor, poet (Senegal, 1906-2001)

Over the last few decades there has been greater study into the concept of
development, including not only indicators like economic growth or
production, but also incorporating factors currently considered essential

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for full development, a non-linear development, and conceived as a

complex process involving different fields and characteristics.

The concept of Human Development, promoted on the international level

by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and Amartya
Sen, includes education and health as key factors in human development,
which is defined as increasing the capacities of each person and thereby
placing the person at the centre of the development action.

The UNDP promotes reports which complement the vision of

development by analysing the issues which have an impact on it, like for
example global warming, access to water, human mobility or migrations
and cultural liberty. In this context culture has also become an interesting
factor for those analysing development.

Within this framework, in recent years the idea that the cultural
dimension must be included in the development policies and actions has
become generally accepted. Due to the prioritization of sustainable
human development over other more econometric development models,
culture has been studied as a necessary element for the full development
of people and communities. Development, as overcoming poverty, has
also increasingly opted for a broader concept of the term poverty. Hence
a broader approach to poverty includes, amongst others, the cultural
sphere.

Out of United Nation‘s specialised bodies, it is UNESCO, which has been

most decisive on the inevitable relationship between culture and
development. As UNESCO is the only United Nations body entrusted
with culture in its mandate, UNESCO has from its beginning and
continues promoting cultural diversity and understanding between

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cultures, in 2010 the "International Year for the Rapprochement of

Cultures" was celebrated, coordinated by UNESCO. The statement by
UNESCO‘S Director General, insisting on the need to include cultural
aspects as part of every country's reconstruction thereby deploying
another focus of attention in the relationship between culture and the
recovery processes following disasters or emergencies.

UNESCO has the merit of having called attention to this issue and having
promoted actions, including research, which respond to the criteria that
culture is an essential part of development.

UNESCO has specialized in cultural heritage protection and restoration

processes and international campaigns, like those performed in Abu
Simbel or Venice, culminating with the extremely well-known 1972
UNESCO Convention concerning the "Protection of the World Cultural
and Natural Heritage". Following the numerous and effective actions
carried out by UNESCO in relation to cultural heritage and its protection,
the organization went deeper into the role of heritage within social
cohesion, and broadening the cultural vision and its link with the
development actions. Hence cultural policies started little by little to
profile themselves as transversal elements and as an active agent within
the development process and not as a mere accessory.

In this journey, UNESCO has indicated four stages in the evolution of the
term culture during the second half of the 20 th century and the beginning
of the 21st century.

1. In the 1950s and 1960s the concept of culture was extended from a
definition more linked with artistic production to the concept of
cultural identity. During this period, UNESCO defended the cultures

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in response to specific situations like decolonization, recognizing that

all cultures are equal.

2. In the 1970s and 1980s, awareness started about the vital union
between culture and development, which would be taken as the basis
for UNESCO‘s international cooperation and solidarity with the
developing countries.

3. In the 1980s and 1990s, awareness started about the cultural

aspirations and bases in the construction of democracies. Work on the
exclusion and discrimination of minorities, indigenous peoples and
immigrant populations indicates cultural diversity as an essential
condition for peace and sustainable development.

4. In the 1990s and 2000, there was a move towards the revaluation of
the dialogue of cultures and civilizations in their wealth, designated as
common heritage of mankind by UNESCO‘s Universal Declaration
on cultural diversity. It also indicates the two sides of diversity: the
first based on ensuring harmonious interaction between the different,
varied and dynamic cultural identities; while the other side advocates
the defense of the creative diversity, the diversity of the multiple
cultural forms and expressions inherent in the cultures.

At present UNESCO also promotes the understanding of culture as a

continuous, malleable and evolving process and indicates cultural
diversity as an essential condition for peace and sustainable development.

1.6 GEOGRAPHY AND CULTURE

Culture, the total way of life that characterizes a group of people, is one
of the most important things that geographers study. There is literally

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thousands of culture on earth; today and each contribute to global

diversity. Culture possesses several cultural component. These
components are not only limited to human. But characterize earth as well.
For it is primarily through the agency of their culture that people interact
with and modify the earth surface.

Because of the innumerable cultural differences that characterize people

and land the world over, there is an entire sub field of geography devoted
to the study of culture -named Cultural Geography

1.6.1 Geography as a Cultural Ecology

Geography literally means ' earth description '. It seeks to describe and
explain the distribution of phenomena that characterize our planet
surface. In so doing geography seeks answers to questions that includes.

- Where are things located?

- Why are they there?
- What is their significance?
- What is the particular location or region like?
- How and why some places on earth alike or different from
other?

An amazing variety of attributes characterize our planet. They include

physical features such as climate, land form and natural vegetation. They
also include human beings, their attributes and their works-such as cities,
Town, agriculture, transport system, and industries etc.

Cultural Geography is the application of ides of culture to geographic

problems.

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Cultural Geography compare the changing distribution of the cultural

area with the distribution of earth surface, in order to identify
environment feature characteristics of a given culture and if possible to
discover what role human action play in creating and maintaining given
geographical feature.

1.6.2 Cultural Geography

Cultural Geography is a sub-field within human geography. Though the

first traces of the study of different nations and cultures on Earth can be
dated back to ancient geographers such as Ptolemy or Strabo, cultural
geography as academic study firstly emerged as an alternative to
the environmental determinist theories of the early 20th century, which
had believed that people and societies are controlled by
the environment in which they develop. Rather than studying pre-
determined regions based upon environmental classifications, cultural
geography became interested in cultural landscapes. This was led
by "Carl O. Sauer" (called the father of cultural geography), at
the University of California, Berkeley. As a result, cultural geography
was long dominated by American geographers.

Geographers drawing on this tradition see cultures and societies as

developing out of their local landscapes but also shaping those
landscapes. This interaction between the natural landscape and humans
creates the cultural landscape. This understanding is a foundation of
cultural geography but has been augmented over the past 40 years with
more nuanced and complex concepts of culture, drawn from a wide range
of disciplines including anthropology, sociology and feminism. No single
definition of culture dominates within cultural geography. Regardless of

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their particular interpretation of culture, however, geographers whole

heartedly reject theories that treat culture as if it took place "on the head
of a pin".

Sauer defined the landscape as the defining unit of geographic study. He

saw that cultures and societies both developed out of their landscape, but
also shaped them too. This interaction between the natural landscape and
humans creates the cultural landscape. Sauer's work was highly
qualitative and descriptive and was challenged in the 1930s by
the regional geography of Richard Hartshorne. Hartshorne called for
systematic analysis of the elements that varied from place to place, a
project taken up by the quantitative revolution. Cultural geography was
sidelined by the positivist tendencies of this effort to make geography
into a hard science although writers such as David Lowenthal continued
to write about the more subjective, qualitative aspects of landscape.

In the 1970s, new kind of critique of positivism in geography directly

challenged the deterministic and abstract ideas of quantitative geography.
This revitalized cultural geography manifested itself in the engagement of
geographers such as 'Yi-Fu Tuan' and 'Edward Relph' and 'Anne
Buttimer' with humanism, phenomenology, and hermeneutics. This break
initiated a strong trend in human geography toward Post-positivism that
developed under the label New Cultural Geography while deriving
methods of systematic social and cultural critique from critical
geography.

1.6.3 New Cultural Geography

Since the 1980s, a new cultural geography has emerged, drawing on a

diverse set of theoretical traditions, including Marxist political-economic

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models, feminist theory, post-colonial theory, post-structuralism and

psychoanalysis.

Drawing particularly from the theories of Michel Foucault and

performativity in western academia, and the more diverse influences
of postcolonial theory, there has been a concerted effort to deconstruct the
cultural in order to reveal that power relations are fundamental to spatial
processes and sense of place. Particular areas of interest are how identity
politics are organized in space and the construction of subjectivity in
particular places.

Examples of areas of study include:

 Feminist geography
 Children's Geography
 Some parts of tourism geography
 Behavioral geography
 Sexuality and space
 Some more recent developments in political geography
 Music geography

Some within the new cultural geography have turned their attention to
critiquing some of its ideas, seeing its views on identity and space as
static. It has followed the critiques of Foucault made by other
'poststructuralist' theorists such as Michel de Certeau and Gilles Deleuze.
In this area, non-representational geography and population mobility
research have dominated. Others have attempted to incorporate these and
other critiques back into the new cultural geography

Introduction 25
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Groups within the geography community have differing views on the role
of culture and how to analyze it in the context of geography. It is
commonly thought that physical geography simply dictates aspects of
culture such as shelter, clothing and cuisine. However, systematic
development of this idea is generally discredited as environmental
determinism. Geographers are now more likely to understand culture as a
set of symbolic resources that help people make sense of the world
around them, as well as a manifestation of the power relations between
various groups and the structure through which social change is
constrained and enabled. There are many ways to look at what culture
means in light of various geographical insights, but in general
geographers study how cultural processes involve spatial patterns and
processes while requiring the existence and maintenance of particular
kinds of places.

Among many applicable topics within the field of study are:

 Globalization has been theorized as an explanation for cultural

convergence.
 Westernization or other similar processes such as Modernization,
Americanization, Islamization and others.

This geography studies the geography of culture

 Theories of cultural hegemony or cultural assimilation via cultural

imperialism.
 Cultural areal differentiation, as a study of differences in way of life
encompassing ideas, attitudes, languages, practices, institutions and
structures of power and a whole range of cultural practices in
geographical areas.

Introduction 26
 Chapter-1

 Study of cultural landscapes and cultural ecology.

 Other topics include a sense of place, colonialism, post-colonialism,
internationalism, immigration, emigration and ecotourism.

Five implicit themes in cultural geography are cultural region, cultural

landscape, cultural diffusion, cultural ecology, and cultural interaction
together constitute the core of cultural geography.

1.7 CULTURAL LANDSCAPE

A cultural landscape, as defined by the World Heritage Committee, is

the "cultural properties that represent the combined works of nature and
of man." i.e.-

1. "a landscape designed and created intentionally by man"

2. an "organically evolved landscape" which may be a "relict (or
fossil) landscape" or a "continuing landscape"
3. an "associative cultural landscape" which may be valued because
of the "religious, artistic or cultural associations of the natural
element."

The concept of 'cultural landscapes' can be found in the European

tradition of landscape painting. From the 16th century onwards, many
European artists painted landscapes in favor of people, diminishing the
people in their paintings to figures subsumed within broader, regionally
specific landscapes. The word "landscape" itself combines 'land' with a
verb of Germanic origin, "scapjan/schaffen" to mean, literally, 'shaped
lands'. Lands were then considered shaped by natural forces, and the
unique details of such landshaffen (shaped lands) became themselves the
subject of 'landscape' paintings.

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The geographer Otto Schluter is credited with having first formally used
―cultural landscape‖ as an academic term in the early 20 th century. In
1908, Schluter argued that by defining geography as a Landschaftskunde
(landscape science) this would give geography a logical subject matter
shared by no other discipline. He defined two forms of landscape:
the Urlandschaft (i.e. original landscape) or landscape that existed before
major human induced changes and the Kulturlandschaft (i.e. 'cultural
landscape') a landscape created by human culture. The major task of
geography was to trace the changes in these two landscapes.

It was Carl O. Sauer, a human geographer, who was probably the most
influential in promoting and developing the idea of cultural landscapes.
Sauer was determined to stress the agency of culture as a force in shaping
the visible features of the Earth‘s surface in delimited areas. Within his
definition, the physical environment retains a central significance, as the
medium with and through which human cultures act. His classic
definition of a 'cultural landscape' reads as follows:

“The cultural landscape is fashioned from a natural landscape by a

cultural group. Culture is the agent, the natural area is the medium,
and the cultural landscape is the result"

Since Schluter's first formal use of the term, and Sauer's effective
promotion of the idea, the concept of 'cultural landscapes has been
variously used, applied, debated, developed and refined within academia,
when, in 1992, the World Heritage Committee elected to convene a
meeting of the 'specialists' to advise and assist redraft the Committee's
Operational Guidelines to include 'cultural landscapes' as an option for

Introduction 28
 Chapter-1

heritage listing properties that were neither purely natural nor purely
cultural in form (i.e. 'mixed' heritage)

The World Heritage Committee's adoption and use of the concept of

'cultural landscapes' has seen multiple specialists around the world, and
many nations identifying 'cultural landscapes', assessing 'cultural
landscapes', heritage listing 'cultural landscapes', managing 'cultural
landscapes', and effectively making 'cultural landscapes' known and
visible to the world, with very practical ramifications and challenges.

A 2006 academic review of the combined efforts of the World Heritage

Committee, multiple specialists around the world, and nations to apply
the concept of 'cultural landscapes', observed and concluded that:

"Although the concept of landscape has been unhooked for some time
from its original art associations ... there is still a dominant view of
landscapes as an inscribed surface, akin to a map or a text, from which
cultural meaning and social forms can simply be read."

Within academia, any system of interaction between human activity and

natural habitat is regarded as a cultural landscape. In a sense this
understanding is broader than the definition applied within UNESCO,
including, as it does, almost the whole of the world's occupied surface,
plus almost all the uses, ecologies, interactions, practices, beliefs,
concepts, and traditions of people living within cultural
landscapes. Following on this, geographer Xoán Paredes defines cultural
landscape as:

"... the environment modified by the human being in the course of time,
the long-term combination between anthropic action on this

Introduction 29
 Chapter-1

environment and the physical constraints limiting or conditioning

human activity. It is a geographical area – including natural and
cultural resources – associated to historical evolution, which gives way
to a recognizable landscape for a particular human group, up to the
point of being identified as such by others."

All cultures change over time as a result the cultural landscape of a given
location may look much different today than the past. E.g. large area of
National Capital Region (NCR) was much depended on primary activities
in the 1970s. But today location becomes the centre of tertiary and
quaternary economic activities.

1.8 CULTURAL DIFFUSION

Cultural diffusion is a process by which cultural traits are spread from

one society to another. Cultural diffusion concern the spread of culture
and the factor account for it such as migration, communication, trade &
commerce etc. Because cultural moves over space. The geography of
cultural is constantly changing. Generally, culture traits originate in a
particular area and spread outward ultimately to characterize a larger
express of territory. Cultural regions describe the location of cultural
traits, cultural diffusion helps explain how they got there.

Cultural diffusion occurs in different ways. Migration is an important

example. When people moves, they take their "cultural baggage" with
them. Thus there are an unaccountable instance, past & present in which
the arrival of migrants has resultant into the appearance of culture traits in
an area where they are not previously present. An important modern
variation involves a business that establishment of facility or outlets in
the foreign land. Ex. - outlets of McDonald, Pizza- Hut, KFC.

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 Chapter-1

People's tendency to copy one another characterized another type of

cultural diffusion. Similarly, people sometimes adopt a new in response
to contact with an advertisement or by seeing something on TV or in a
movie, or interacting directly with the people who display on the
particular traits.

When a cultural item diffuses, it typically does not keep spreading and
spreading forever: - instead, it tends to diffuse outward from its place of
origin encounter one or more BARRIER Effect-things that inhibit cultural
diffusion and stop spreading. Barrier effects can assume physical or
social form.

Physical Barrier effects consist of characteristics of the natural

environment. That inhibits the spread of culture. The classic examples are
ocean, deserts, mountain etc.

Social Barrier effects consist of characteristics of differentiating human

group and potentially limit interaction between them. Thus inhibiting the
spread of culture. Example includes language, religion, race, history of
conflict between specific cultural communities.

FIGURE-1.3: Types of Cultural Diffusion

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1.9 CULTURAL ECOLOGY

Cultural Ecology addresses the relationship between culture and the

physical environment. Culture as arisen and evolved in a great variety of
physical setting that differs in climate, nature, vegetation, soil and land
form. In these diverse natural environments human developed adaptive
strategies to satisfy their needs for clothing, food and shelter. The result is
a literal world of difference in clothing style, production, preparation, and
consumption of food.

The concept of cultural Ecology often helps us better understand the

cultural landscape. Cultural ecology focuses on 'culture-environment
interaction' in the past as well as the present. Regarding the past,
identification and analysis of cultural hearth in the particular the
important.

In geography, cultural ecology developed in response to the "landscape

morphology" approach of Carl O. Sauer. Sauer's school was criticized for
being unscientific and later for holding a "reified" or "super organic"
conception of culture. Cultural ecology applied ideas from ecology and
systems theory to understand the adaptation of humans to their
environment. These cultural ecologists focused on flows of energy and
materials, examining how beliefs and institutions in a culture regulated its
interchanges with the natural ecology that surrounded it. In this
perspective, humans were as much a part of the ecology as any other
organism. Important practitioners of this form of cultural ecology
include Karl Butzer and David Stoddart.

Introduction 32
 Chapter-1

1.10 CULTURAL INTERACTION

Cultural interaction focuses on the relationship that often exists between

cultural components of a given community. When Geographer seeks to
explain why a particular cultural trait is found in a particular area, they
often discover that the answer lies is another trait possessed by the same
cultural community. This demonstrates that cultural components may be
inter related.

1.11 OBJECTIVE OF STUDY

- To study the geographical distribution of Kumbh Mela.

- To explain the interrelationship between Kumbh Mela and
economic activities in Allahabad.
- To explain how Kumbh Mela affects the cultural ecosystem of
Allahabad Districts.
- To study the new techniques and innovative ideas for the
management of Kumbh Mela.
- To study the future prospect of next Kumbh Mela-2025
- To give suggestions for the better planning and management for
the next Kumbh occasion.
- To study the administrative activities during Kumbh and the
facilities provided to the pilgrims.
- To study man-environment relationship during the occurrence
of Kumbh.

Introduction 33
 Chapter-1

1.12 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The present research work is based on both qualitative and quantitative

approaches. The qualitative analysis has been done by observing the
following steps.

(a) Library Consultant

The library of University of Allahabad, University of Delhi and the

departmental library of Geography were consulted to prepare the review
of the literature and to collect the information regarding the origin of
Allahabad and Kumbh.

(b) Remote Sensing and G.I.S.

The satellite imaginary were obtained through remote sensing and

various technique for interpretation of the map.

(c) Field Work

An intensive field work was conducted in the Kumbh Mela area for
collecting the data regarding overall information.

(d) Quantitative Analysis

The quantitative analysis has been done by some statistical techniques

such as mean. Median, mode and various techniques etc.

(e) Data Sources/Collection

The analysis and interrelation of research work are based on both primary
and secondary data. The primary data has been collected by the
conducting field work in Kumbh Mela area. The socio-economic data
regarding Allahabad district has been collected from secondary data. The

Introduction 34
 Chapter-1

important secondary data sources are district gazetteer, statistical outline,

district mineral survey report Allahabad and report of the forest
department, tourist department and record of Allahabad Municipal
Corporation.

1.13 HYPOTHESIS

The major Hypothesis of my research work are.

- The favorable geographical conditions are the main factor for

Allahabad developed as a major cultural centre.
- Kumbh Mela plays a major role in developing Allahabad as an
important cultural centre.
- Kumbh Mela represents the great example of urban planning
infrastructure in Allahabad.
- Kumbh Mela has an important role in social harmony and
national integrity.
- E-Flow of River Ganga is necessary for fulfilling the aspiration
of people during Kumbh.

1.14 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

The review of literature is concerned with the synonymous work done in

relation to the present topic under study. In this study, references to
concerned studies have been presented in each chapter. Notwithstanding,
a brief review of major work has been given for apprehending the trend
of geographical research in fairs and festivals. Some attempts have been
made on this subject are as follows:

Bhardwaj, Sinder Mohan (1977) in his article ―Prayag and Its Kumbh
Mela‖ done monumental work in this topic.

Introduction 35
 Chapter-1

Robbert (1966) in his a dissertation on ―Distribution of Hindu Holy site

in India‖ has given classification of Hindu holy places.

Dubey D.P. (2001) in his article ―The site of Kumbh Mela: In Temporal
and Traditional Space‖ attempted to bring out the brief introduction
of kumbh mela and its background.

Bharadwaj, M. (1987) in his article ―Single religion shrines, multi

relational Pilgrimage‖ has tried to present evidence from shrines in
India which attract pilgrims of variety of a faith and how they
ignored the religious boundaries under certain conditions of
economic, physical and psychological stress.

Dubey, D.P. (1987) In his article entitled ―Kumbh mela and historicity of
India‘s greatest pilgrimage fair‖ has studied fairs and festivals and
showed its importance in the human life from the early times.

Singh, Rana (1987) in his article ―Peregrinology and geographical guest‖

has tresses the need of study of peregrinology (pilgrimage study) in
geography through its spatial approach. He has stressed the need
for study of pilgrimage and tourism together with multi-
disciplinary approaches and methodology.

Haberman, David L. (2006) in their thesis ―River of Love in the age of

Pollution: The Ganga & Yamuna river of Northern India‖ has
examined the influence of river on structure & function of Hindu
religion.

Navale and Deshmukh (1989) in their article ―A view of pilgrimage

tourism – A study in human Geography‖ have discussed the
importance of pilgrimage as a form of tourism and showed that the

Introduction 36
 Chapter-1

pilgrimage tourism has emerged from the human geography and

fulfills the characteristics of tourism geography.

Batra, K.L. (1989) made an attempt in ―Problems and prospects of

Tourism‖ focusses on this topic.

Sholapurkar, G.R. (1990) made an attempt on ―Religious Rites and

festivals of India‖ about religious rites and celebration of various
festivals in India.

Singh, Rana P.B. (1992) in his article ―The geography of pilgrimage in

India‖ explained the importance of geography of pilgrimage as a
multidisciplinary field of inquiry and discussed the concept of
Hindu pilgrim.

Devi, Indira & Roy, D.K. (1955) written their Thesis on ―Kumbha :
India‘s ageless Festival‖.

Ratnadeep, Singh (1996) attempted in his book ―Tourist India,

Hospitality Services‖ and "Infrastructure of Tourism in India"
gives his views about social and cultural factors of Tourism in
detail. In his book, he focused on Tourism infrastructure and man
power development.

Huger (2000) have analysed the various aspects of market centres and
rural marketing in different regions at various scales.

Maclean, Kama (2008) has written on the ―Pilgrimage and Power: The
Kumbh Mela In Allahabad‖.

Raina, A.K. and Agrawal, S.K. (2004) focused on ―The essence of

Tourism.‖ Romi Chawla (2004) made an attempt on ―Economic

Introduction 37
 Chapter-1

Tourism & Development.‖ National Geographical Journal Of

India(1987) made an attempt in ―Kumbh Mela: Origin and
Historicity Of India‘s greatest Pilgrimage festival ‖ by writing on
the impact on socio – cultural effects of this mela fair.

Sharma, S.P. and Gupta, Seema (2006) in his book ―fairs and festivals
of India‖ focused on Indian fairs and festivals.

Introduction 38