Religion and architecture in premodern indonesia : : studies in spatial anthropology / / by Gaudenz Domenig.

• VerfasserIn: Domenig, Gaudenz,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden, Netherlands : : Koninklijke Brill,, 2014.; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 294.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (594 p.)
• Notes: Includes index.
• Other title: Preliminary Material /; Introduction /; Introductory notes: The landtaking ritual as a key to understanding indigenous religions /; Land-clearing rituals and sacred groves /; Sacred groves and tabooed mountains /; The soul land and the place of deified ancestors /; Introductory notes: Deities and spirits called to offerings /; Temporary altars and the attraction of fresh leaves /; Roofed altars and offering houses /; Artificial ladders and inverted posts /; Introductory notes: The sources and their interpretation /; Spirit pathways in the Tanimbar house /; Rafters as paths /; Plumes and brushes as attractors /; Gable finials /; Projecting gables /; The relative instability of roofs /; Epilogue /; Glossary of technical terms /; List of works cited /; Sources of illustrations and credits /; Index /
• Bibliography: Includes bibliographical references.
• ISBN: 9004274073
• ISSN: 1572-1892
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: by Gaudenz Domenig.

In his richly illustrated Religion and Architecture in Premodern Indonesia Gaudenz Domenig investigates the nature of Indonesian ethnic religions by focusing on land opening rituals, sacred groves, and architectural responses to the custom of presenting offerings. Since deities and spirits were supposed to taste offerings on the spot, it was a task of architecture to attract them and to guide them into houses where offerings were presented. Domenig quotes numerous sources to show that certain material elements of the house were viewed as spirit attractors, spirit ladders or spirit pathways. Various ‘exotic’ features of Indonesian vernacular architecture thus become understandable as relics from times when architecture was still responding to indigenous religions practised in the archipelago.