Niels Gutschow

niemieccy architekci planują w okupowanej Polsce : 1939-1945

Obsesja porządku

Axel Michaels

Johanna Buss

In a rare combination of competence, an architectural historian (Niels Gutschow) and an indologist (Axel Michaels) have documented death rituals of the ethnic community of Newars in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. The first part of the book focusses to a specific setting, the ancient city of Bhaktapur and its calendric rituals of death and renewal. An introduction to the urban fabric with its cremation places, routes of death processions, places of spirits and ancestor deities is followed by a presentation of specialists involved in the death and ancestor rituals - illustrated by 28 maps. The second part presents a detailed description of the union of the deceased with his forefathers, a ritual which is also documented on a DVD. In addition, local handbooks and manuals used by the Brahmin priest during this ritual are edited and translated. This ethno-indological method of combination of textual and contextual approaches aims at understanding both the agency in rituals and the function of the text in contexts. Formalized rituals turn out to be by no means strict, stereotypical and unchangeable. The uniqueness of the actors, places and time has prompted the authors to name places and actors and to date time. The study of death rituals represents the first part of a trilogy of studies of life-cycle rituals in Nepal, carried out under the auspices of the Collaborative Research Centre "Dynamics of Ritual" (Sonderforschungsbereich 619: Ritualdynamik).

The Dynamics of Death and Ancestor Rituals Among the Newars of Bhaktapur, Nepal

Handling Death

Siegfried R. C. T. Enders

The architecture of Japan, both historic and contemporary, has attracted architects from all over the world since the early sixties. However, only recently has the Japanese approach to conservation emerged as an intriguing issue. For the first time, a Western publication attempts to portray the Japanese practice of repair--Hozon --of historic structures.

Architectural and Urban Conservation in Japan

Hozon

For more than two millennia Buddhism shaped the cultures of Central, South, Southeast, and East Asia. Each territory had its own peculiar way of developing representations of the Buddha, the Bodhisattvas, and a variety of guardian deities and saints. Of particular importance is the representation of the Buddha and his teachings in an iconic form in the shape of an impassable building. Called Stupa in Sanskrit, and Chörten in Tibetan, these structures not only characterize the urban space of the Newars in the Kathmandu Valley. They also mark the access to Tibetan villages in northern Nepal, line the trails across high passes, and stud topographically prominent places. By their thousands, they transform wilderness into a landscape that promises shelter, protection, and well-being. 584 maps, architectural drawings, and photographs, produced from 1970 to 2008, document the rich cultural heritage of the Tibetan and Tamang enclaves along the range of the high Himalaya.

Architecture and Buddhist Votive Practice in the Himalaya

Chörten in Nepal

David N. Gellner

Includes not only architectural information, but also the cultural significance of these Buddhist monuments.

1500 Years of Buddhist Votive Architecture in the Kathmandu Valley

The Nepalese Caitya

Christian Bau

The authors - an architectural historian (Niels Gutschow) and an indologist (Axel Michaels) - are presenting the second part of a trilogy of studies of life-cycle rituals in Nepal, carried out under the auspices of the Collaborative Research Centre "Dynamics of Ritual". The initiation of boys and girls of both Hindus and Buddhists of the ethnic community of Newars in the Kathmandu Valley are documented. The first part of the book presents elements of Newar rituals, the spatial background of Bhaktapur and the hierarchy of ritual specialists - illustrated by 21 maps. The second part documents with detailed descriptions the . rst feeding of solid food, birthday rituals, and pre-puberty rituals like the first shaving of the hair, the boy's initiation with the loincloth (in Buddhist and Hindu contexts), the girl's marriage with the bel fruit and the girl's seclusion. One girl's marriage (Ihi) and three boy's initiations (Kaytapuja) are documented on a DVD. The third part presents the textual tradition: local handbooks and manuals used by the Brahmin priest to guide the rituals. Two of these texts are edited and translated to demonstrate the function of such texts in a variety of contexts.

Hindu and Buddhist Initiation Rituals Among Newar Children in Bhaktapur, Nepal

Growing Up

Katharina Weiler

The volume investigates the visualization of both ritual and decorative aspects of auspiciousness and protection in the form of celestial characters in art and architecture. In doing so, it covers more than two and a half millennia and a broad geographical area, documenting a practice found in nearly every corner of the world. Its transcultural approach aims at gaining insights into cultural dynamics and consistent networks and defining new historical mindmaps; it examines reciprocal effects and aspects of interwovenness in art and architecture with a view to reconceptualizing their established realms. The collection opens a window on a phenomenon in the history of art and architecture that has never before been considered from this perspective. The book focuses on a transcultural iconography of aerial spirits, goddesses and gods in art history, pursuing a methodologically innovative approach in order to redefine and develop the practice of identification and classification of motifs as a means to understanding meaning, and attempting to challenge the categories defined by academic disciplines.

Auspicious and Protective Spirits in Artefacts and Architecture Between East and West

Spirits in Transcultural Skies

Architekten planen im "eingedeutschten Osten" 1939-1945

Ordnungswahn

Thomas Sieverts

Beiträge eines internationalen Symposions zur Stadtbaugeschichte Süd- u. Ostasiens, 2.-4. Juni 1977

Stadt und Ritual

Niels Gutschow

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