Sacred Architecture as the Body of Memory: Material Religion and the Holy City of Mandarom Shambhasalem

This contribution analyzes the Holy City of Mandarom Shambhasalem in France as the material expression of the spiritual beliefs, memories, and narratives of a new religion, Aumism, a new syncretic religion labeled a sect by French authorities. Built since the end of the 1960s, this controversial place of worship has become a custodian of intangible heritage and the group’s collective memory, contributing to cultural diversity and the debate on society’s heritage. Religious architectures demonstrate that the symbolic use of materials and sacred buildings both reveal and conceal spiritual messages, giving material form to the immaterial. The study is based on a qualitative ethnographic approach, including media and audiovisual materials, natural documents, participant observation, and non-directive interviews. The study draws theoretically on the classical notion of collective memory, new studies of spatiality and religion, material religion, and studies on sacred spaces. The results show that the Holy City functions as a body of collective memory through three mechanisms: the collective construction by first-generation members; the incorporation of absence as active mnemonic sites; and the guided tour as a performative act of memory transmission. The discussion highlights how the unmaking of sacred space has paradoxically intensified its mnemonic power, and how the architecture of a contested new religion participates in broader social debates on heritage and cultural diversity.