What Is Sacredness?

Class 7 Social Science · Chapter 8: How the Land Becomes Sacred · NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond section 8.1

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Neel's class makes a wall chart of sacred places their families have visited: a gurdwara in Amritsar, the Dargah Sharif in Ajmer, Velankanni Church, Bodh Gaya, Girnar, Sabarimala, a village shrine under a peepul tree. "So many!" says Meher. In this chapter, sacredness means something of deep religious or spiritual meaning, worthy of reverence: a place, a pilgrimage (a journey to a sacred place), its route, or even the land itself.

Almost every religion in India has sacred places. Shrines of Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism are visited for prayer, often by people of other faiths too. For Buddhists, sacred sites are linked to the Buddha: the Great Stūpa at Sanchi and the Mahabodhi Stūpa at Bodh Gaya, where he attained enlightenment (over four million visitors a year). For Sikhs, the takhts, seats of spiritual authority like the Akal Takht at Amritsar and Takht Sri Patna Sahib, are linked to the Gurus; Guru Nanak himself made pilgrimages across India.

In Jainism, tīrthas mark where the Tīrthankaras attained liberation or lived: Girnar, the Śhatruñjaya hill and Mount Abu. Many shrines sit on hilltops, like Sabarimala in Kerala, visited by over ten million devotees a year and once reached only by a hard forest trek; the difficult climb symbolises the inner journey. In Maharashtra the 800-year-old Pandharpur Wārī sees pilgrims walk together for 21 days to the Vithoba temple.

Explore: sacred places of many faiths.

1. Sort each place.

Remember

• Sacredness can belong to a place, a pilgrimage, its route or the land itself.
• Every religion in India has sacred places: stūpas, takhts, Tīrthankara hills, dargahs, churches and temples.

Quick check

Why are many shrines built on hilltops?

1. the difficult climb symbolises the inner journey to the divine
2. valleys were too crowded
3. to avoid visitors
4. for trade only

Think about it

Are there places in your area that people of different faiths visit together?

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.