ABSTRACT
Two aspects of these rural perceptions and representations will be analysed. The first relates to the physiographic duality of Ballabgarh and village perceptions of it. The second theme is concerned with the archaeological relics of that zone and with the straightforward and unusual ways in which these are understood and, in some cases, transformed through a filter of socio-religious beliefs and memories. In both cases, we highlight and historicise the disjunction between scholastic observation and ground-level perception. We believe that this has implications for, and requires acknowledgement by, geographers and archaeologists. Our approach will help in producing a perspective of the landscape that is more meaningful than the flat presentation of its formal and physical attributes.
