Abodes for the Gods

Abodes for the Gods. The Symbolism of Sacred Architecture in the Indo-Pacific continues the story of its companion volume Abodes for the God. The Symbolism of Ancient Sacred Architecture in Eurasia in interpreting the diverse forms of sacred architecture by examining the world-views, religious beliefs, and rituals of the cultures that built them. The study employs a multi-disciplinary approach: local mythologies, historical records of European explorers, archaeological findings,...
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Abodes for the Gods. The Symbolism of Sacred Architecture in the Indo-Pacific continues the story of its companion volume Abodes for the God. The Symbolism of Ancient Sacred Architecture in Eurasia in interpreting the diverse forms of sacred architecture by examining the world-views, religious beliefs, and rituals of the cultures that built them. The study employs a multi-disciplinary approach: local mythologies, historical records of European explorers, archaeological findings, linguistic data, works of art, archaeo-astronomy, and biology. The book first examines both the Megalithic Culture and non-megalithic building practices of Southeast Asia and Indonesia - the origins of Oceanic settlers, and Melanesia. It takes up the types of sacred construction in Micronesia and Polynesia, following the order of their colonization. Due to their long distance and isolation from the great Asiatic civilizations, native practices associated with sacred endeavors persisted into the modern age and provide a rare insight into the world-view of their pre-literate societies. The link between house and boat construction as sacred undertakings, the existence of carpenters’ guilds, and the high status of carpenters revealed in this study substantiate the data on early civilization presented in The Empire Builders. A Socio-Economic Study of Architects and Building Artisans from the Neolithic to the Renaissance. The division of the Hawaiian year into two culturally different seasons under the aegis of gods of differing natures is examined in detail to demonstrate an Indian origin (or a common origin for both) for one half the year and a late imperialistic development for the other. Other cultural traits from western civilizations that continued to be introduced into the Indo-Pacific through maritime trade and pre-European exploration are proposed and a final chapter looks at possible late contact between Pacific islanders and the New World.