Historical Significance of Jharkhand's Sacred Landscapes in the Development of Indian Religions

Abstract

This paper examines the historical significance of Jharkhand's sacred landscapes as active agents in the 
development of Indian religious traditions, rather than peripheral spaces absorbing pan-Indian influences. 
Drawing on landscape archaeology, religious geography, and ethnohistorical scholarship, the study argues that 
the forested plateaus, sacred groves, megalithic sites, and hill shrines of the Chotanagpur region constitute a 
palimpsest of ritual practice in which indigenous Adivasi cosmologies, Jaina asceticism, Buddhist monasticism, 
and Brahmanical temple traditions have coexisted, competed, and interpenetrated for over two millennia. Through 
case studies of Parasnath Hill (Sammet Shikhar), the Sarna sacred groves of the Munda, Santhal, and Oraon 
communities, the megalithic ritual complexes of the Chotanagpur plateau, and the Baidyanath Dham jyotirlinga 
at Deoghar, the paper demonstrates how Jharkhand's geography generated specific religious forms that 
subsequently shaped broader Indian traditions, including Jaina tirtha conceptions, Shaiva pilgrimage networks, 
and tribal-Hindu syncretism. The analysis further engages with contemporary contestations, particularly the Jain
Adivasi dispute over Marang Buru/Parasnath, to show how sacred landscapes remain sites of political 
negotiation. The study concludes that Jharkhand's religious geography illustrates the dialectical rather than 
unidirectional nature of Indian religious history.