#GemsOfASI #12
Ritual bans, policing faith, and administrative overreach.
1/ Across India, ritual bans at protected monuments are often justified as “conservation measures”.
Their effects, however, go far beyond conservation.
2/ Rituals in temples are not ornamental additions.
They are structured practices embedded into architecture, time cycles, and spatial design.
Banning them alters how a site functions — not just how it is used.
3/ Colonial-era conservation frameworks treated ritual activity as an external stressor.
This assumption migrated into post-Independence administration, where regulation slowly turned into prohibition.
1/ THREAD — Before 1700 CE, European law didn't prohibit child marriage. It regulated it.
Minimum ages codified in canon law. Contracts binding in royal courts. Elite daughters became diplomatic currency.
This thread documents legal practices from primary sources. It doesn't comment on any modern religion or community.
Ages. Alliances. Archives.
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2/ Carolingian Europe.
Bertha of Laon is believed to have married Pepin the Short around 744 CE. Historical sources suggest she may have been around 13–14 years old at the time. The marriage aimed to consolidate the Carolingian claim.
Source: Einhard, Royal Frankish Annals.
Alliance first. Childhood considered differently in historical context.
3/ Judith of Bavaria married Louis the Pious in 819 CE. Historical sources suggest she was quite young.
This marriage was significant in securing Bavarian loyalty to the Frankish throne, illustrating how alliances were formed in that era.
Diwali: diyas blaze during Kartik's darkest new moon (late Oct/early Nov).
Hanukkah: 8 candles in December.
Christmas: trees glow on Dec 25.
Yule, Dongzhi, Saturnalia... all cluster around winter solstice.
Why? 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬. 🕯️
2/ Rome, 217 BCE: Saturnalia begins Dec 17.
For one week, social order inverts. Slaves dine first. Masters serve. Courts close, gambling's allowed. Gifts exchanged: candles, wax figurines, pottery.
It celebrated Saturn's mythical "Golden Age"—a world without hierarchy.
Then normal life resumed.
3/ Fast-forward to 4th-century Rome: Christianity spreads.
Challenge: populations cling to winter festivals—Saturnalia, Sol Invictus (Dec 25 "Unconquered Sun"), local traditions.
Solution: 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐩𝐭, don't erase.
Dec 25 becomes Christmas. Bible's silent on the date. Shepherds in fields suggest spring.