Buddhist buildings in England: the construction of ‘under-represented’ faith heritage in a multicultural and post-Christian setting

Abstract

Until recently the ‘heritage industry’ in England overlooked buildings of minority faith traditions. Little has been written about this ‘under-represented’ heritage. Drawing on data from the first national survey of Buddhist buildings in England, we examine the ways in which Buddhist heritage is beginning to be incorporated into the state-funded ‘heritage industry’ as well as how Buddhist communities in England construct heritage through these buildings. First, we draw upon spatial theory in the study of religion to examine three dimensions of minority faith buildings in England and what this tells us about the communities involved: ‘location’ (i.e. the geographical location of the buildings); ‘space’ (i.e. what the buildings are used for and their relationship to local, national and transnational scales); and ‘place’ (i.e. what types of buildings are selected by different communities and why). We then turn to theories of memory that have become popular within the study of religion as well as heritage studies. Religion understood as ‘a chain of memory’ plays an important role in heritage construction via faith buildings, and an analysis of faith buildings, their spatial dimensions and role in ‘memorywork’, helps us think through the dynamics of modern religious belief in a multicultural and post-Christian setting.

Keywords:

• Buddhism
• heritage industry
• post-Christian
• multicultural
• memory
• space
• diaspora
• faith

Notes

1. ‘Diaspora’ will refer to those Buddhists who, either themselves, or their families, brought their religion to Britain from elsewhere. ‘Convert’ will be used to refer to those Buddhists who, either themselves or their parents, having been brought up with another religion or none, made the decision to affiliate with Buddhism, typically in adulthood.

2. http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/private-and-public-sector-guidance/guidance-all/protected-characteristics (accessed 5 October 2016).

3. http://diversityheritage.org/about-us-2/ (accessed 5 October 2016).

4. http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/about-us/our-people/equality-and-diversity/ (accessed 5 October 2016).

5. Zen Buddhism has its roots in in Japan and China (where it is called Chan Buddhism). Pure Land Buddhism is widely practiced in East Asia. Zen and Pure Land are both classed as traditions within the broader category of Mahāyāna Buddhism and Tibetan forms of Buddhism are classed under the broader category of Vajrayāna Buddhism.

6. http://www.ketumati.org/history.php (accessed 5 October 2016).

7. http://www.ketumati.org/newpro.php (accessed 5 October 2016).

8. Interviewee, Triratna, Manchester Buddhist Centre, 17 February 2014.

9. Interviewee, Diamond Way London, Beaufoy Institute, 4 November 2013.

10. See Endnote 8.