Home › Free notes › Class 7 Social Science › How the Land Becomes Sacred

How the Land Becomes Sacred – Class 7 Social Science notes, important questions and MCQs

NCERT Class 7 Social Science, chapter 8. Notes, key terms, important questions with answers and MCQs.

Chapter overview

Across India, people regard rivers, mountains, forests and certain places as sacred. Pilgrimage sites in every corner of the land, linked by journeys of devotees, created a sense of a shared sacred geography. Sacredness also encourages people to protect nature.

Sacred rivers, mountains and groves

Rivers such as the Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada and Kaveri are worshipped as mothers.
Mountains such as Kailash and Arunachala, and many hills, are seen as abodes of the divine.
Sacred groves protected by communities, such as the devrais of Maharashtra and the sarnas of Jharkhand, conserve forests and wildlife.

Pilgrimage across India

The Char Dham are Badrinath (north), Puri (east), Rameswaram (south) and Dwarka (west), placed at the four corners of the land.
There are twelve jyotirlingas of Shiva and many shakti peethas spread across India.
The Kumbh Mela is held in turn at Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik.

Sacred places of many faiths

Bodh Gaya and Sarnath (Buddhist), Sammed Shikhar and Shravanabelagola (Jain), the Golden Temple at Amritsar (Sikh), Ajmer Sharif (Sufi) and Velankanni (Christian) attract pilgrims.
Pilgrimages connected people from distant regions, spreading languages, trade, ideas and a feeling of oneness.

Key terms

Pilgrimage: a journey to a sacred place for religious reasons
Tirtha: a sacred place, often near water, visited by pilgrims
Sacred grove: a patch of forest protected by a community for religious reasons
Char Dham: four pilgrimage centres at Badrinath, Puri, Rameswaram and Dwarka

Important questions with answers

What are sacred groves?2 marks

Sacred groves are patches of forest protected by local communities for religious reasons, often dedicated to a deity. Cutting trees or hunting is not allowed there, so they help conserve plants, animals and water sources. Examples are the devrais of Maharashtra and the sarnas of Jharkhand.

Name the Char Dham and explain their importance.3 marks

The Char Dham are Badrinath in the north, Puri in the east, Rameswaram in the south and Dwarka in the west. Located at the four corners of India, they encouraged pilgrims to travel across the whole land, which created a sense of the country as one sacred whole.

'Pilgrimage helped create a sense of oneness in India.' Explain.5 marks

For centuries, people from all regions have travelled to sacred places such as the Char Dham at Badrinath, Puri, Rameswaram and Dwarka, the twelve jyotirlingas, the shakti peethas, and the Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. Followers of many faiths also visit Bodh Gaya and Sarnath, Shravanabelagola and Sammed Shikhar, the Golden Temple, Ajmer Sharif and Velankanni. On these journeys, people speaking different languages met, shared food, stories, songs and ideas, and traders followed the pilgrim routes. Rivers, mountains and forests across the land came to be seen as sacred, linking regions in people's minds. In this way, pilgrimage connected distant parts of India and built a shared cultural and sacred geography, which helped create a feeling of oneness.

Quick revision

Rivers, mountains and groves are revered.
Char Dham: Badrinath, Puri, Rameswaram, Dwarka.
Kumbh: Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain, Nashik.
Pilgrimage connects distant regions.

Exam tips

Place the Char Dham on a map of India by direction: north, east, south, west.
Give one sacred place each for different faiths to show India's shared sacred geography.

Practice MCQs

Which Char Dham is in Odisha
1. Badrinath
2. Puri
3. Rameswaram
4. Dwarka
Show answer
Answer: (b) Puri. Puri is the eastern dham.
A journey to a sacred place is called a
1. pilgrimage
2. migration
3. invasion
4. expedition
Show answer
Answer: (a) pilgrimage. Pilgrims travel for devotion.
The Golden Temple is in
1. Varanasi
2. Ajmer
3. Amritsar
4. Puri
Show answer
Answer: (c) Amritsar. It is the holiest shrine of Sikhs.
The Kumbh Mela is held at
1. Puri and Konark only
2. Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik
3. Delhi and Agra
4. Madurai and Kanchipuram
Show answer
Answer: (b) Prayagraj, Haridwar, Ujjain and Nashik. It rotates among these four places.
Which of these is a Jain pilgrimage centre
1. Shravanabelagola
2. Bodh Gaya
3. Ajmer Sharif
4. Velankanni
Show answer
Answer: (a) Shravanabelagola. It has the statue of Bahubali.
Patches of forest protected by communities for religious reasons are called
1. reserved forests
2. plantations
3. sacred groves
4. national parks
Show answer
Answer: (c) sacred groves. They help conserve biodiversity.
The Char Dham at the four corners of India mainly helped to
1. divide the country
2. create a sense of shared sacred geography across regions
3. stop trade
4. replace local beliefs
Show answer
Answer: (b) create a sense of shared sacred geography across regions. Pilgrims travelled across the whole land.
Which statement about sacred places in India is correct
1. they belong to only one faith
2. they include sites of many faiths and connect people across regions
3. they are found only in the north
4. pilgrimage began in the 20th century
Show answer
Answer: (b) they include sites of many faiths and connect people across regions. Sacred geography is shared by many traditions.

All chapters of Class 7 Social Science

Written by Kundali IQ from standard, well-established facts to help with revision. This is not an official NCERT publication; always read your textbook too.