Re-imagined Tīrtha as Sustainable Management of Pilgrimage Beyond ‘Officially’ Sacred: Pilgrim, Prayer, and Profit

Pilgrimage, Tīrtha, and Tīrtha-centric Ritualism have grown popular with the compositions of the purāṇas by the fourth century AD onwards. The anthropological studies support the prominence of pilgrimage to sacred places as a Puranic delineation of these religious institutions, with its remarkable growth in size and popularity. The ‘Profilation’ of some tīrtha in purāṇas has resulted from their continual addition to the Puranic literature. The cognitive and evolutionary science of these mentions in Puranic literature have led to new and exciting ways to interpret the Religion and Religious behaviors of Sacred places. The main framework of Sustainable Management of such sacred sites considers the Religion and Religious literature as a perspective of usefulness for its sustenance and survival, as an individual or group. The present research focuses on observing the mentions of tīrthas in the Puranic literature and it’s gradually building cognitive perspective as a Sustainable Management practice of Religious centers and Sacred places. Such literary resourced sustainable practice can be seen as a traditional Management practice towards Historic Indian Cities.