Ritual ceremonies have roots in people’s beliefs and they have been established over the centuries. Such ceremonies are held either closed architectural spaces, such as temples, or urban and public spaces. This study examines the relationship between urban space and ritual ceremonies in three cities of India. Examination of these cases revealed that three types of connections are available between city and a ceremony: First, central in Qawwali ceremony in Delhi; second, widespread in Mewar festival in Udiapur; and third, linear in holy baptism ritual and the festival of light on the banks of the River Ganges in Varanasi. This article reviews the environment, activities, physical movement, visual communication, sound communication and public health. These components have critical importance when a huge number of populations gather for the ceremony. Moreover, we acknowledge the effect of these ceremonies on the shaping of the cities. Field observations support the idea that because of unplanned population growth, urban spaces have imposed many limitations to hold collective rituals and ceremonies. However, possibly when these ritual ceremonies were formed, the urban spaces could provide proper platform for these events. Considering that form has an important role in the continuity of these ceremonies, the before mentioned limitations could disrupted the durability of rituals in the long term.
kameli, H., ghafouri, A., & ghorbani, M. (2015). Ritual Ceremonies and Urban Spaces in Indian Cities. Journal of Art and Civilization of the Orient, 3(10), 35-44.
MLA
hoda kameli; atieh ghafouri; mitra ghorbani. "Ritual Ceremonies and Urban Spaces in Indian Cities". Journal of Art and Civilization of the Orient, 3, 10, 2015, 35-44.
HARVARD
kameli, H., ghafouri, A., ghorbani, M. (2015). 'Ritual Ceremonies and Urban Spaces in Indian Cities', Journal of Art and Civilization of the Orient, 3(10), pp. 35-44.
VANCOUVER
kameli, H., ghafouri, A., ghorbani, M. Ritual Ceremonies and Urban Spaces in Indian Cities. Journal of Art and Civilization of the Orient, 2015; 3(10): 35-44.