Traditional Indian religious streets: A spatial study of the streets of Mathura

• Main Authors: Meeta Tandon, Vandana Sehgal
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2017-12-01
• Series: Frontiers of Architectural Research
• Subjects: Street; Spatial qualities; Religious precincts; Physical characteristics
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095263517300596

Streets determine the spatial characteristics of a city and are its most important element. They retain their unique identity by depicting their own sense of place and provide psychological and functional meaning to people's lives. Traditional streets, located in the heart of a city and where religious buildings are situated, are visited by numerous pilgrims daily and should be assessed for their physical features and spatial qualities. This study aims to investigate the character of one of such streets, Vishram Bazaar Street, which is a commercial street where the famous Dwarkadhish temple of Mathura is located. This study, therefore, aspires to uncover the spatial qualities of the street in terms of its physical characteristics based on the tool given by Reid Ewing, Clemente, and Handy, which includes imageability, enclosure, human scale, transparency, and complexity, and to establish the relevance of these qualities in Indian religious streets. The methods used for data collection are literature reviews, on-site documentation (field notes, photographs, and videos), visual assessment, and questionnaire surveys.