The Sacred Confluence, Between Nature and Culture

This paper provides some reflections on the categories of nature and culture through a critical analysis of the notion of "sacred", using as a case study the Hindu pilgrimage to the sacred confluences of rivers in South Nepal. Combining the analysis of the puranic texts Mahatmyas celebrating sacred places (thīrtha) and data collected during fieldwork, this paper considers tīrthas as places of intersection and exchange between the different components of the universe, and thus places of continuous cultural construction through the ritual. The analysis of the features of the tīrthas reveals a complex network of correspondences (connecting the human life cycle, the human and divine body, and the physical and imagined landscape) which blurs the opposition nature/culture. The notion of “sacredness” is used here as a mediating concept between nature and culture.