Muslim Communities And Cultures Of The Himalayas

This book chronicles individual perspectives and specific iterations of Muslim community, practice, and experience in the Himalayan region to bring into scholarly conversation the presence of varying Muslim cultures in the Himalaya. The Himalaya provide a site of both geographic and cultural crossroads, where Muslim community is simultaneously constituted at multiple social levels, and to that end the essays in this book document a wide range of local, national, and global interests while maintaining a focus on individual perspectives, moments in time, and localized experiences. It presents research that contributes to a broadly conceived notion of the Himalaya that enriches readers’ understandings of both the region and concepts of Muslim community and highlights the interconnections between multiple experiences of Muslim community at local levels. Drawing attention to the cultural, social, artistic, and political diversity of the Himalaya beyond the better understood and frequently documented religio-cultural expressions of the region, this book will be of interest to academics in the fields of Anthropology, Geography, History, Religious Atudies, Asian Studies, and Islamic Studies.

This book explores how ethnic groups living in the Himalayan regions understand nature and culture. The first part addresses the opposition between nature and culture in Asia’s major religious traditions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Shamanism. The second part brings together specialists of different representative groups living in the heterogeneous Himalayan region. They examine how these indigenous groups perceive their world. This includes understanding their mythic past, in particular, the place of animals and spirits in the world of humans as they see it and the role of ritual in the everyday lives of these people. The book takes into account how these various perceptions of the Himalayan peoples are shaped by a globalized world. The volume thus provides new ways of viewing the relationship between humans and their environment.

Sophie Day explores the houses that are imagined, built, repurposed, and dismantled among different communities in Ladakh, drawing attention to the ways in which houses are like and unlike people.A handful of in-depth ‘house portraits’ are selected for the insight they provide into major regional developments, based on the author’s extended engagement since 1981. Most of these houses are Buddhist and associated with the town of Leh. Drawing on both image and text, collaborative methods for assembling material show the intricate relationships between people and places over the life course. Innovative methods for recording and archiving such as ‘storyboards’ are developed to frame different views of the house. This approach raises analytical questions about the composition of life within and beyond storyboards, offering new ways to understand a region that intrigues specialists and non-specialists alike.

This timely volume brings together various issues in Muslim consumer cultures and provides a comprehensive account of Muslim tourism and tourist behaviour. Islam is a major international religion and Muslims are a majority of the population in many countries in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. The growth of a substantial middle class, the development of Islamic consumer cultures, rising Muslim market consumption in non-Muslim majority destinations and the growing significance of intra-Muslim traffic and rising outbound tourism expenditure in emerging Muslim markets have all contributed to substantial interest in Muslim tourism. However, travel by Muslims is about far more than the Hajj and Umrah, as important as they are as acts of devotion. Instead, although often portrayed in the West as a monolithic religion, Muslim travel and leisure behaviour is very diverse, with different traditions and cultures leading to a range of expressions of tourism-related consumption culture and practices. Drawing on a range of empirical studies undertaken in different social and economic contexts and countries, this book provides a well-balanced portrayal of the Muslim tourism experience and practices. This book makes a substantial contribution to an improved understanding of Muslim travel culture and will be required reading for anyone interested in this fast-growing market.

Presents an overview of the history, society, and culture of the Himalayan region. Includes information on the Boro, Buksa, Dhimal, Danuwar, Garo, Kachari (Koche), Khasi, Majhi, Mikir, Miri, Naga, Rabha, Rajbanshi, Santal, Tharu, kByangshi, Galong, Kham, Newar, Pahari, Tamang, Ladakh, Zanskar, Lahul-Spiti, Guge, Ngari, Humla, Sikkim, Bhutan, Sherdukpen ethnic groups.

The central aim of this encyclopedia is to give the reader a comparative perspective on issues involving conceptions of gender, gender differences, gender roles, relationships between the genders, and sexuality. The encyclopedia is divided into two volumes: Topics and Cultures. The combination of topical overviews and varying cultural portraits is what makes this encyclopedia a unique reference work for students, researchers and teachers interested in gender studies and cross-cultural variation in sex and gender. It deserves a place in the library of every university and every social science and health department. Contents:- Glossary. Cultural Conceptions of Gender. Gender Roles, Status, and Institutions. Sexuality and Male-Female Interaction. Sex and Gender in the World's Cultures. Culture Name Index. Subject Index.