International Journal of Architectural Design and Planning Original Research
From Place to Perception: Cinematic Representation of Sacred Landscape and Architectural Space in Hanuman Ansh (2026)
Abstract
Architecture is experienced not only as physical form but also through movement, memory, representation and visual perception. Cinema provides a significant medium through which buildings, landscapes and spatial environments are selected, framed, sequenced and interpreted. The 2026 Hindi film Hanuman Ansh, inspired by the life and legacy of Neem Karoli Baba, provides an opportunity to examine the representation of sacred landscapes and architectural environments through cinematic space. This research examines Hanuman Ansh as an architectural case study, focusing on the relationship between place, topography, built form, landscape, movement, threshold, materiality, light, human activity and cinematic framing. The study deliberately approaches the film from an architectural and environmental perspective rather than as a religious, theological or biographical study. Particular attention is given to Chitrakoot, where contemporary production reports indicate that approximately 80 percent of the film was shot, including locations such as Punjabi Baba Ashram, Shivram Pur, Arogyadham and Parsauja. The documented transformation of an existing Junior High School building at Shivram Pur into a police station and jail provides a significant architectural example of how an existing place can acquire a different cinematic identity through temporary intervention, spatial dressing and framing. The study proposes a qualitative visual-spatial methodology combining film-frame analysis, architectural mapping, site documentation and comparative interpretation. A conceptual distinction is developed between physical place and cinematic place, with four categories proposed: Real Place, Adapted Place, Reconstructed Place and Cinematically Constructed Place. The paper proposes that the perception of sacred spatiality in cinema emerges through the combined influence of topography, built form, landscape, threshold, movement, enclosure, light, materiality, visual focus and human activity. The research demonstrates the potential of cinema as supplementary architectural research medium capable of recording not only buildings but also spatial sequence, environmental relationships and human experienceKeywords
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