Date of Award
8-25-2023
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Heritage Studies, Ph.D.
First Advisor
Edward Salo
Committee Members
Gregory Hansen; Lauri Umansky
Call Number
LD 251 .A566d 2023 E84
Abstract
Somapura Mahavihara, an 8th-century Buddhist monastery in Bangladesh, is a world heritage site. Measuring 22 hectares, the layout of the monastery is quadrangular shaped, reaching a height of approximately eighty feet above ground level. Physically this monastery provides an excellent example of the workmanship and design principles of the Pala Dynasty of 8th-century Bengal. The monastery’s architectural elements have been the center of academic studies on architecture, building morphology, ornamentation, and archeological excavation of this monastery. Yet significant research is still needed regarding the heritage dialogue between this ancient monastery and its local non-Buddhist population. Buddhism disappeared from Bengal in the 13th century and Bangladesh quickly became a Muslim-majority nation, with 89% of the citizens being followers of Islam. The local predominantly Muslim population in the neighboring villages of Somapura Mahavihara have no religious affiliation with this monastery; yet, the site's heritage, as a continuous process, is created, continued, and carried forward by humans; and local people have an embedded relationship with the place. While Somapura Mahavihara has stood in ruined condition for a thousand years. Communities grew, transformed, and transmuted in that place, carrying and passing the heritage identity of this monastery over generations. It has dissolved so finely that heritage attributes are no longer visible to the naked eye after a thousand years. This empirical research is focused on the relationship between the local communities and the world heritage site of Somapura Mahavihara with the intention of sustainable heritage management. Following an ethnographic approach combined with historical research methods, this study unveils the invisible flow of heritage within the adjacent communities' sociocultural patterns, norms, rituals, beliefs, and myths.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Eshika, Pushpita, "Local Manifestation of Global Heritage: The Role of Local Communities in the Management Of ‘Somapura Mahavihara’ – A World Heritage Site of Buddhist Origin in Bangladesh" (2023). Student Theses and Dissertations. 165.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/165
