Kshetra Sampada

In the course of history, certain regions/ areas have developed into cultural centres attracting people from all parts of India. These centres are places of convergence and radiation, where centrifugal and centripetal forces are evident. Often a temple or a mosque, is the physical or notional centre. So far they have been studied either from the point of view of chronology, history, religion or economics as a linear phenomenon and not a totality from which emanates a multiplicity of creative artistic activity. Kshetra is used here in the widest sense to provide a paradigm for the study of regional cultures which are distinctive but not insular. The Kshetra Sampada envisages, therefore, a study not only of a singular unit such as specific place or temple, but its impact on the people and the entire interlocking of the devotional, artistic, geographic, social and economic aspects of the sacred centre and what factors act as its renewals and continuity.

• Brhadisvara Temple, Tanjavur
• Vraja Prakalpa