Complexity in Space:

By their movement pilgrims map and integrate ritual spaces. Cosmic geometries connect the celestial macrocosm, the terrestrial mesocosm , and the human microcosm. Such cosmic geometries are important features of the pilgrimage landscape, and may be carried in the minds of individual pilgrims as geometric yantras. Vast landscapes may be ordered and humanized by these visualized geometries and by the feet of pilgrimage, such as the major cardinal pilgrimage sites of India at Badrinath, Puri, Rameswaram, and Dwarka. Once the pilgrimage destination has been reached, circumambulation of the center in a pilgrimage mandala is a common feature. Some of the pilgrimage geometries may be cardinal, while others may be dominated by local topography and tradition. Clockwise movement about the center parallels the motion of the sun in the sky. A spiraling path into the center may symbolize the merging of the individual with the absolute.

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