Talk:Sacred sites of South Asia

I think it's weird that the lead photo is of a mosque, especially considering the first section deals with Buddhism. At first, I figured it was a photo of a Buddhist temple, but alas it wasn't. Do we have any photos of a Buddhist temple we can use as the lead photo? -- (WT-en) Sapphire • (Talk) • 02:04, 23 June 2007 (EDT)

Well, I think finding a perfect opening image for this article is going to be difficult with so many major religions based there... there's not much reason to choose Buddhist over Islam, and the Jama Masjid is one of the more well-known sites on the sub-continent. Once this is a little more filled out I'll try to make a map for it, maybe that would make a less contentious main image for this particular article? – (WT-en) cacahuate ^talk 02:09, 23 June 2007 (EDT)

Contentious, my ass. It's simply a matter of logistics: the first photo would ideally match up with the first section, which is about Buddhist beliefs. If someone has a problem about the what the first section is, let the alphabet sort that out. -- (WT-en) Sapphire • (Talk) • 02:15, 23 June 2007 (EDT)

I see what you're saying. I think the lack of a meaty intro and the largeness of the photo currently make it look like it's taking over the Buddhist section... but maybe beefing up the intro and downsizing the pic (or another we choose to replace it) is the way to go, not making the first section dictate what image goes as the lead? – (WT-en) cacahuate ^talk 02:26, 23 June 2007 (EDT)

Purpose of this page?

Is the purpose of this page to provide a listing of 'sacred', as in 'regarded with more than the ordinary level of veneration by a religion', sites? Or is it to provide a listing of noteworthy religious sites that may be of tourist interest. If the latter, then Christianity (St. Thomas Mount in Chennai, Bom Jesus in Goa) and Judaism (the sixteenth century synagogue in Cochin) should perhaps be included. If the former, then, I guess, we can give the Christians and the Jews a pass. (Are there any pagan religious sites in India?) --(WT-en) Wandering 18:17, 23 July 2007 (EDT)

Good question. As you know, when people visit India, they will be confronted by religion at street level. There will be icons in hotel lobbies and precariously balanced on street stalls and stuck on the front of taxi dashboards. So, one part of the article is to provide info about the meaning of the most common symbols. In addition, many travelers head to India purely to experience the indigenous and popular religions, so another part of the article is to provide information about the sacred sites themselves and the etiquette to be observed when visiting such places. In this way, as with articles such as those on 'altitude sickness' and 'food poisoning' the article can serve as a central point of information, and so saving us the need to repeat the same information on every article where a temple is mentioned. At the moment it is a bit of a hodge podge, but hopefully it will evolve and the articles will be be split up, perhaps first along religions lines and then later with a focus on itineraries. In the same way that I wouldn't link a primary article about Hindu or Buddhist sacred sites and temples to the Middle East (though there are some there, especially in Afghanistan), I wouldn't place the Judea Christian traditions in an article on religions of the Indian sub-continent. The Middle East is their natural home, and I think that's where such info should be located. It could be argued that Islam should not be included as it was not born in the Indian sub-continent, but it has such a strong presence there, not only in Pakistan and Bangladesh, but also in India, and there are so many ancient mosques in the region that it would be doing a disservice to travelers not to include it. Anyway, to reiterate, the idea of the article is to provide info on the religions of the area for travelers at two levels: the basic details about symbols and rituals that are experienced at street level and also to offer more detailed info for travelers who plan to visit sacred and religious sites. Lonely Planet and Rough Guide have similar introductions, so you can get some idea of what this article is trying to achieve if you check out those guides. I hope that answers your questions. Take it easy. (WT-en) WindHorse 22:53, 23 July 2007 (EDT)

I guess the page is largely meant for those who go seeking religion in India, which would be predominantly Buddhism and Hinduism with the odd Jainism thrown in. Not sure how well Islam fits into this but I guess it is big in India. Thanks!--(WT-en) Wandering 13:35, 24 July 2007 (EDT)

"Indian subcontinent"

Can't we just call it "Sacred sites of South Asia"? That's the name Wikivoyage gives to the region, which also includes countries that are not India, such as Pakistan, Nepal, etc. --(WT-en) globe-trotter 19:19, 9 January 2010 (EST)

Adding Taxila

Taxila is a major Buddhist site, I'm adding it. --(WT-en) Awiseman 09:46, 17 July 2011 (EDT)

Christian sites?

I realise India is not a major place for Christian sites as it is for other religions, but are there some worth mentioning? There are fine old churches in at least Calcutta & Goa. I think the tomb of Thomas the apostle is somewhere around Calicut. Pashley (talk) 02:52, 19 January 2013 (UTC)

See w:Thomas_the_Apostle#Thomas_and_India; the whole thing gets pretty complicated. Pashley (talk) 12:16, 25 April 2013 (UTC)

Christianity has as much of a right to be discussed here as Islam. It may not have been founded on the Indian subcontinent but it has had a very long and strong presence. We could even have smaller sections on Judaism, Zoroastrianism and Baha'i. Gizza ^(roam) 04:21, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

For Zoroastrians, see w:Parsi. Pashley (talk) 12:41, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

I think they can be mentioned, even if probably most people who travel to the Subcontinent to visit sacred sites are looking for Hindu and Buddhist sites. ϒpsilon (talk) 13:13, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

Hindu, Muslim and Buddhist sites. Remember, the Taj Mahal is a sacred site for Islam. Ikan Kekek (talk) 18:11, 1 November 2017 (UTC)

Move to Sacred sites of South Asia?

[headline edited] We use the term South Asia to describe the relevant region. Shall we use [edit] Sacred sites of South Asia, as well? /Yvwv (talk) 03:36, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

The region name is unimportant, but it's sites, not cities. Ikan Kekek (talk) 08:17, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

It ain't broke, so don't fix it. Pashley (talk) 12:02, 9 September 2017 (UTC)

@Yvwv: Support – this may help distinguish ourselves from The Other Site, and we should try and use terms used in our region structures. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 01:25, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

This is already fairly long. Do you plan on adding sites in all other South Asian countries to this article? Ikan Kekek (talk) 05:21, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

I thought the only country in the Indian subcontinent not part of South Asia was Afghanistan per Wikipedia, but we cover Afghanistan under Central Asia. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 05:36, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

OK, and what about my question? Ikan Kekek (talk) 05:43, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

Every single site mentioned here is also in what we call South Asia because per our definitions, South Asia = Indian subcontinent. To your question, I don't plan on adding any further sights. SHB2000 (talk | contribs | meta.wikimedia) 05:48, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

Then we shouldn't rename it. Ikan Kekek (talk) 06:35, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If someone wants to add a redirect, I would not object much, though I think it would be pointless.

For that matter, I realise I'm in a minority, but I'd move South Asia to Indian subcontinent. Policy is to use the common English name & to me that is more important than political correctness. Pashley (talk) 07:10, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

South Asia is used often in the U.S., at least. Ikan Kekek (talk) 07:43, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

Sacred_sites_of_the_Indian_subcontinent#Notable_sites_2

A comment says not to change the list without discussion. I'm tempted to ignore it, but ...

Taxila does not belong in a section on Hindu sites. It is already mentioned in the Buddhist section.

I'd add Mamallapuram & Kurukshetra. Pashley (talk) 02:44, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

I went ahead & removed Taxila. Pashley (talk) 03:14, 14 July 2021 (UTC)