The concept of Sacred Complex was proposed by

L. P. Vidyarthi Lalita Prasad Vidyarthi (28 February 1931 – 1 December 1985) was an Indian Anthropologist known for his work on the anthropology of religion and pioneering studies on the sacred complex in Indian society. Education Vidyarthi holds a master� ...

under the influence of

Robert Redfield Robert Redfield (December 4, 1897 – October 16, 1958) was an American anthropologist and ethnolinguist, whose ethnographic work in Tepoztlán, Mexico, is considered a landmark of Latin American ethnography. He was associated with the Universi ...

. The aspects of great and little tradition as put up by Redfield were applied to an

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

n context. The crux of the concept was to identify the mechanism of cultural complexions in an ancient Indian setting and studying the secondary complexions based on religious centres of India. L. P. Vidyarthi defined the complex in "Sacred complex of Hindu Gaya," as "a happy synthesis of sacred geography, sacred practices and sacred specialist of a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

place of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

, reflecting a level of continuity, compromise, and a combination between the great and little tradition." Later a number of studies were taken by different Indian Scholars in different Sacred Geographies in India as well as outside India. In which, Professor Makhan Jha stands first who studied many pilgrimage center applying "Sacred Complex" as a methodology to understand the trichotomy of the elements of Sacred Complex. After five decades to the concept prouponded by Prof. Vidyarthi, A restudy was done by Dr. Karuna Shanker Pandey in Hindu Gaya for his doctoral Degree in 2015.

References

* Hindu philosophical concepts * * {{Hindu-philo-stub