Lines in Water: Religious Boundaries in South Asia

by Eliza F. Kent (Editor), Tazim R. Kassam (Editor)

Overview

When asked to distinguish between different faiths, Mughal prince Dara Shikoh is said to have replied, "How do you draw a line in water?" Inspired by this question, the essays in this volume illustrate how ordinary people in South Asia and the diaspora negotiate their religious identities and encounters in creative, complex, and diverse ways. Taking the approach that narratives "from below" provide the richest insight into the dynamics of religious pluralism, the authors examine life histories, oral traditions, cartographic practices, pilgrimage rites, and devotional music and songs. Drawing on both ethnographic and historical data, they illuminate how, like lines in water, religious boundaries are dynamic, fluid, flexible, and permeable rather than permanently fixed, frozen, and inviolable.

A distinct feature of the volume is its proposition of a fresh and innovative typology of boundary dynamics. Boundaries may be attractive or porous, firmly drawn or transcended. Attractive boundaries invite confluence while affirming the differences between self and other, whereas permeable boundaries facilitate exchanges that create new identities and in turn form new lines. Although people may recognize the significance of religious borders, they can choose to transcend them. Throughout this volume, the authors highlight the fascinating range of South Asian religious and cultural traditions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780815633198
Publisher:	Syracuse University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2013
Series:	Gender and Globalization
Pages:	428
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Eliza F. Kent is an associate professor of religion at Colgate University. She is the author of Converting Women: Gender and Christianity in Colonial South India, which received the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title of 2004. Her articles have appeared in journals such as Worldviews and the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture.

Tazim R. Kassam is an associate professor in the Department of Religion at Syracuse University. She is the author of Songs of Wisdom and Circles of Dance: Hymns of the Satpanth Ismaili Saint, Pir Shams and the co-editor of Ginans: Texts and Contexts. Essays on Ismaili Hymns from South Asia in Honor of Zawahir Moir.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Preface Tazim R. Kassam xi

Introduction Eliza F. Kent 1

Part 1 Attractive Boundaries

1 Sufis and Movie Stars: Charismatic Muslims for Middle-Class Hindus Daniel Gold 39

2 An Other's World: Healing at Husain Tekri Sharif Carla Bellamy 57

3 Vavar Swami: A Hindu-Muslim Saint of Kerala Dominique-Sila Khan 78

Part 2 Porous Boundaries

4 Syncretism and Sin: An Independent Christian Church in Colonial South India Eliza F. Kent 101

5 The Living Tradition of Ismaili Ginans: Negotiating Cultures in Poetry and Performance Tazim R. Kassam 125

6 Liminal Hindus: Disputed Boundaries and Their Impacts on Sindhi Hindus Steven Ramey 159

Part 3 Firmly Drawn Boundaries

7 Mapping Boundaries: The Science of Knowing Communal Identity in British Cartography Peter Gottschalk 187

8 In a Single House: Fluid Boundaries in Performed Urdu Poetry Christopher Lee 213

9 Fluid Boundaries and the Assertion of Difference in Low-Caste Religious Identity Nancy M. Martin 239

Part 4 Transcending Boundaries

10 Religious Healing and Ritual Relationships at a Religious Crossroads in South India Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger 271

11 "Ainn-Bai's Sarvadharm Yatra": A Mix of Experiences Ann Grodzins Gold 300

12 From Liminal to Social in the Modern Age: Transcendent Sacrality and Social Service in the Aghor Tradition Jishnu Shankar 330

13 Indian Arrival Day: Shifting Boundaries in the Celebration of a National Holiday in Trinidad Lindsey Harlan 356

Contributors 391

Index 395

Editorial Reviews

At a time when communal violence steals headlines, this collection reminds us of the many ways in which India's Hindu and Muslim communities have not only peacefully coexisted but also shared in a common culture that is pluralist, spiritually permeable, and continuously evolving. The scholars assembled here-some of the most outstanding in the field of South Asian studies-show how movie stars, healers, poets, and saints appeal to diverse audiences while blurring the boundaries of religion and caste. This is a timely and very important work.

David Pinault

Revealing both the breadth and interplay of subjects such as pilgrimage practices, artistic performances, and colonial cartography, the authors demonstrate how religious boundaries can attract, propel, and fuse communities, depending on one's regional, economic, political, or scholarly perspective.

author of Bringing the Sacred Down to Earth: A Corinne G. Dempsey