ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book is a critical study of Hindu traditions of salvific space. It describes some significant and unique features of the Hindu traditions of sacred places. The book discusses the origin and development of the traditions. Pilgrimage was promoted by Brahman priests and was related to transformations of Vedic religious traditions and the growth of other religious traditions. The presence of Buddhist and other Sraman. A pilgrimage traditions might have contributed to the production of forms of Brahmanical pilgrimage traditions. The book uses as an example the pilgrimage places associated with the ancient sage Kapila to analyze narratives and doctrines of salvific space. A number of pilgrimage places are mentioned and some features of them described; their characteristics and their place in the pilgrimage system are analyzed and the rituals of pilgrimage and some contemporary developments are portrayed.
