Astronomy of Indian cities, temples, and pilgrimage centers

Abstract

Throughout the Indian subcontinent, there are regions where culture and geography join to create a landscape that is infused with meaning and power. These sites are often tirthas, places of extensive mythological associations where many believe that spirit can cross between different realms. Tirthas may be important fords of rivers, summits of hills where the heaven and the earth seem unusually close, or locations where Hindu deities have entered the world. Many contain a symbolic cosmology or visual astronomical sightlines, primarily to the solstices. Two tirthas are discussed: Varanasi, the most important pilgrimage destination for the whole of Hindu India, and Vijayanagara, once a major pilgrimage center of southern India, which became the capital city of the Hindu empire that controlled the southern part of the subcontinent. The concept of self-organized criticality is introduced as a useful technique for analyzing pilgrimage systems.