IN-PERSON: Prague – Section A
Abstract
Somapura Mahavihara, an 8th-century Buddhist monastery in Bangladesh, is a world heritage site. Measuring 22 hectares, the layout of the monastery is quadrangular shaped, reaching a height of approximately eighty feet above ground level. Physically this monastery provides an excellent example of the workmanship and design principles of the Pala Dynasty of 8th-century Bengal. The monastery’s architectural elements have been the center of academic studies on architecture, building morphology, ornamentation, and archeological excavation of this monastery. Yet significant research is still needed regarding the heritage dialogue between this ancient monastery and its local non-Buddhist population. Buddhism disappeared from Bengal in the 13th century and Bangladesh quickly became a Muslim-majority nation, with 89% of the citizens being followers of Islam. The local predominantly Muslim population in the neighboring villages of Somapura Mahavihara have no religious affiliation with this monastery; yet, the site’s heritage, as a continuous process, is created, continued, and carried forward by humans; and local people have an embedded relationship with the place. While Somapura Mahavihara has stood in ruined condition for a thousand years, communities grew, transformed, and transmuted in that place, carrying and passing the heritage identity of this monastery over generations. It has dissolved so finely that heritage attributes are no longer visible to the naked eye after a thousand years. This empirical research is focused on the relationship between the local communities and the world heritage site of Somapura Mahavihara with the intention of sustainable heritage management. Following an ethnographic approach combined with historical research methods, this study unveils the invisible flow of heritage within the adjacent communities’ sociocultural patterns, norms, rituals, beliefs, and myths.
Pushpita Eshika is a Ph.D. candidate in Heritage Studies Program at Arkansas State University. Her Ph.D. focuses on heritage-Human relationships in a local context. After graduating in Architecture from Khulna University, Bangladesh, Pushpita has persuaded a master’s in architecture at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, emphasizing the architectural morphology of historic Buildings of Bangladesh. She is a student member of SAH and ACHS. Besides, as a graduate assistant, Pushpita has earned hands-on experience in critical heritage analysis, management, and ethnographic work.
Edward Salo, Ph.D., is an associate professor and associate director of the Heritage Studies Ph.D. Program at Arkansas State University, USA. He earned his doctoral degree from Middle Tennessee State University, USA, in 2009 with a one-year Research Fellowship from the Institute of Southern Studies, University of South Carolina, USA. Before starting his carrier as a professor at A-State, Salo served as a historian in different professional organizations from 2000 to 2014. Among his research interests, Cultural Resources Management during times of conflict, Historic Preservation, and Military history are worth mentioning. His teaching interest includes but is not limited to Applied and Public History, Military and Naval History, Historic Preservation, Comic book history, Cultural Resources Management, Transportation History, and US History from 1900-1945. He published many journals and book chapters, and book reviews focusing on US history, military history, and Historic Preservation. Salo is also actively engaged in the National Register of Historic Preservation (NRHP) to determine the eligibility and nominations of historical places in the USA and prepare cultural resource management reports. Salo is a member of many prestigious organizations dealing with history and heritage.
9:30 am - 11:00 am
Friday 30th June, 2023