Myth and Placemaking in Vrindavan, India

Abstract

Vrindavan in the Braj region in India, associated with Lord Krishna’s lila (play), evolved over half a millennium into a pilgrim town on the banks of the river Yamuna. The coded language of myths and their grounding in riverfront groves preserves collective memories that are retrieved by ‘finding’ places where events in Krishna’s life occurred. Oral traditions of storytelling with re-enactments involve place-making by devotees through active engagement with the physical environment. Thus, ‘finding’ and ‘making’ places are crucial in not only remembering Krishna’s one-time life on earth but also ensuring the possibility of divine encounters with living deities in temples and natural settings. Preservation practices in state-protected monuments in Vrindavan, in contrast, discourage place-making thus severing the connections between tangible and intangible forms of heritage. The historic core of monumental temples is currently facing many challenges as a result of increasing religious tourism. Preserving it as a historic urban landscape entails untangling the complex connections between tangible and intangible aspects of heritage, especially the important role of place narratives in shaping beliefs, values, and ritual practices. The proposed conservation framework draws upon a holistic understanding of heritage for sustainable planning and management of the historic core. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024.