This presentation of the book is based on the publication in the Tibet Journal (2020) of I.A.T.S. 2016 at Bergen. In the volume, we focus on Sikkim sacred landscape interpretation and conservation.
We have gathered different texts by authors (Karubaki Datta, Samuel Thévoz, Olivier Chiron) writing on sacred landscapes and their conceptualizations in the line of the Tibetan and Himalayan studies of the sacred landscape and research on hidden lands (sbas yul) and our aim is to give a more subtle analysis on Tibetan landscapes in Tibet as well as in the Himalayan region.
The hidden lands celebrate the idea of the mountain as a refuge and exceptional place for meditation and religious practices a hidden land that remained untouched and pristine. Therefore, the holistic unity that emerges between rituals and the use of environment by populations is the guarantee of the preservation of cultural and natural heritage of Sikkim. We also pointed out the fact that it is necessary to analyze the recent changes and transformations of theses landscapes.
The sacred landscape put the question of some stakes of the transition from a traditional landscape to a modern and touristic one : what will be the future of the Tibetan communities and Sikkimese landscapes facing the modernization of traditions?