Muslim-Marathi pilgrimage: the Sufi-shrine of Visalgadh

Jürgen Schaflechner; Deepra Dandekar

Outline

Muslim-Marathi pilgrimage: the Sufi-shrine of Visalgadh

Jürgen Schaflechner

Deepra Dandekar

2020, Ritual Journeys in South Asia: Constellations and Contestations of Mobility and Space

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…

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13 pages

Abstract

Dandekar, D. 2020. “Muslim-Marathi pilgrimage: the Sufi-shrine of Visalgadh”, in Ritual Journeys in South Asia: Constellations and Contestations of Mobility and Space. Edited by C. Bergman and J. Schaflechner, pp. 181-196. Routledge: London

Key takeaways
AI

The article explores Sufi bhakti at the Visalgadh dargah, highlighting its unique devotional practices.
Shrine literature serves as an ontological artifact that shapes dargah devotion and pilgrimage narratives.
The Visalgadh dargah has gained prominence due to urban growth, enhancing pilgrim access over the last two decades.
The 16-page shrine booklet conveys Baba Malik Rehan's moral code and rituals for devotees at the dargah.
Dargah worship fosters shared Hindu-Muslim devotional practices, transcending traditional religious boundaries in Maharashtra.

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Routledge South Asian Religion Series 8 Yoga in Modern Hinduism Hariharananda Arat;1ya and Saqikhyayoga Knut A. Jacobsen 9 Women, Religion and the Body in South Asia Living with Bengali Bauls Kristin Hanssen 10 Religion, Space and Conflict in Sri Lanka Colonial and Postcolonial Contexts Elizabeth J. Harris 11 Religion and Technology in lndfa Spaces, Practices and Authorities Edited by Knut A. Jacobsen and Kristina Myrvold 12 The Baghdadi Jews in India Maintaining Communities, Negotiating Identities, and Creating Super-Diversity Edited by Shalva Weil 13 Regional Communities of Devotion in South Asia Insiders, Outsiders, and Interlopers Edited by Gil Ben-Herut, Jon Keune, and Anne Monius 14 Ritual Journeys in South Asia Constellations and Contestations of Mobility and Space Edited by Christoph Bergmann and Jurgen Schafl.echner For more information about this s erie s, please visit: https://www.routledg e.com Ritual Journeys in South Asia Constellations and Contestations of Mobility and Space Edited by Christoph Bergmann and Jurgen Schaflechner I~ LONDON AND NEW YORK

First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square , Milton Park , Ab ingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN a nd by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of th e Taylor & Francis Group, an informa bus in ess © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Christop h Bergman n and Ji.ir gen SchaAechner; individual chapt ers, the co ntributors The right of Chri stop h Bergmann a nd Ji.i rgen Schaflechner to be identified as the author s of th e edit orial mat eria l, and of the authors for their individual ch apters , has been asserted in accor dance with sections 77 an d 78 of the Copyright, Designs an d Pate nts Act 1988 . . All ri ghts reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or r epro duced or utilised in a ny fo rm or by a ny electronic, mechani ca l, or other mea ns, now known or hereafter in ve nted, including photocopying and recording, or in a ny in fo rmation s torage or retr ieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher s. Trademark notice: Produ ct or corporate names may be trademark s or registered trademarks , and are used on ly for identifica ti on and explanation without int ent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Dala A ca tal ogue record for this bo ok is avai la bl e from the British Library Li brary of Congress Cataloging-in-Pub/ication Data A catalog record has been requested for this book ISBN: 978-1-138-05500-l (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-16627-8 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by codeMan tra fJ FSC -- MIX Paper from responsible sources FSC• C013056 Printed and bound in Great Br itain by TJ International Ltd, Padstow, Cornwall Jitni taklif utna fayda The more pain, the more gain (Famous saying amongst South Asian pilgrims) Pilgrims in Baluchistan, Pakistan (J. Schafl.ecbner, 04 .2012).

Contents List of maps IX List of.figures XI List of tables Xlll List of contributors xv Foreword XIX iOH N EADE Acknowledgements XXI 1 Introduction: constellations and contestations of mobility and space in South Asian ritual journeys 1 CHRISTOPH BERGMANN A ND JURG EN SCHAFLECHNER 2 In fear of the past: the pilgrimage to Badrinath in perspective 11 HANS JURGEN DAVID 3 Journeying sovereignties: ritual travelling and networks of power in a West Himalayan kingdom 29 LOKESH OHR! 4 Wandering god: how young Himalayans negotiate religion, caste identity and modernity 63 KARIN M. POLIT 5 Places, rituals and past worlds: encounters on a Tibetan pilgrimage in North India 85 NIKE-ANN SCHRODER 6 Ritual displacement as process of constructing and de-constructing boundaries in a Sufi pilgrimage of Pakistan 119 MICHEL BOIVIN

180 Robyn Andrews and Brent Howitt Otto Mukherjee, Rila. 2004. "Contested Authenticities" Rethinking History 8(3): 459- 463. Myerboff, Barbara. 1978 . Number our Days. New York: Simon and Schuster. Otto, Brent Howitt, and Robyn Andrews. 20 1 7. "Durability and Cha nge: Anglo- Indian Religious Practice in India and the Diaspora" In Religion and Modernity in India, edited by A.P. Sen and S. Bandyopadhyay, 290- 308. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Sallnow, Michael J. 1 98 1. "Communitas Reconsidered: The Sociology of Andean Pilgrimage" Man 16(2):163 - 182. Santos, S.R. 1978. The Shrine Basilica of Our Lady of Heallh, Vailankanni. 10th ed. Thanjavur: Don Bosco Press (original edition, 1965). Sebastia, Brigette. 2002. Mariyamman-Mariyammcm: Catholic Practices and Image of Virgin in Velankanni (Tami Nadu). Pondicberry: French Institute of Pondicherry (Pondy Papers in Social Sciences, 27). Tharamangalam, Joseph 2004. "Whose Swadeshi? Contending Nationalisms among Indian Christians" Asian Journal of Social Science 32(2): 232- 246. Turner, Victor. 1974. Dramas, Field and Metaphors: Symbolic Action in Human Society. Ithaca: Corne ll University Press. Turner, Victor, and Edith Turn er. 2011. Image and Pilgrimage in Christian Culture: Anthropological Persp ec tives. New York: Columbia University Press (original edition, 1 978). - Varghese, Roy Abraham. 2000. God Sent: A History of th e A ccredited Apparitions of Mary. New York: Crossroad. 9 Muslim-Marathi pilgrimage The Sufi-shrine of Visalgac;lh 1 Deepra Dandekar Introduction Pilgrimages in India are commonly associated with traditions of temple or shrine worship and ritualistic expressions of devotion (bhakti), while bhakti in Maharashtra is especially associated with saints and village deities. My present article explores Muslim bhakti and the devotion of Sufi saints (commonly known as Baba) at shrines (dargiihs). 2 Exploring Sufi worship at the dargiih of Malik Rehan at Visalgac;lh located between Kolhapur and Ratnagiri districts, my analysis frames Sufi Muslim bhakti at dargiihs as represented within shrine literature; in this case, locally printed booklets commonly sold at dargiihs. The primary thrust of this article explores the dynamism of shrine literature, these being locally produced vernacular texts that inscribe dargiih devotion and produce ritual belonging. Shrine booklets therefore constitute ontological artefacts that play an agential role in pro- ducing dargiih and pilgrimage. 3 Reading and listening practices associated with shrine booklets that are considered part of the saint's ritual articles, produce imagery and meaning for pilgrims at the dargiih , who can imbue their devout journey to Visalgac;lh on the lines of recounted and prescribed pilgrimages described in the shrine booklet. I have organized this article in two layers. Providing analyzed and paraphrased sections from the shrine booklet of Baba Malik Rehan's dargiih in the article's main text, I have annotated this with historical and anthro- pological information in footnotes. This double-layered writing consist- ing of complementing literary, historical and anthropological materials seeks to reconstruct Muslim devotion, pilgrimage and dargiih worship at Visalgac;lh. While providing historical and anthropological footnotes for analyzing shrine literature is not mandatory, I have followed Ranajit Guha's (2002) critical yoking of literature-writing in India to the morality of global history-writing that interrogates rationalist values underlying all processes of history writing. Similarly, my anchoring of shrine literature to main- stream regional historical and anthropological information attempts to explore political claims, often encountered in shrine literature that validates community belonging to ritualized places and journeys.

182 Deepra Dandekar Setting the scene Almost every Marathi village has a dargiih , where local Hindus and Muslims pray for divine intervention. Dargah rituals ~owever ~all out- side the purview of local mosques that do not involve Hmdu s; n~1ther do all Muslims congregating at local mosques pray at dargahs. This makes dargah-worship a specific and shared Hindu-Muslim devotional practic~ at many rural outposts in Maharashtra (Dandekar 2016). Some dargahs, like the dargah of Malik Rehan at Visalgac;lh and others, sue~ as the d~rgah of Haji Malang at Kalyan (Dandekar 2015, 2016), have gamed considerable influence over the last two decades due to urban growth in the areas sur- rounding Mumbai, Kolhapur or Ratnagiri that facilitate pilgrim access to shrines through networked regions. Dargah worship therefore transcends the local framework of village-deity worship by inhabiting the interstices of non-uniform urban growth. Urban growth, often described by devo- tees in ritual terms, as Baba's healing power that spans to include an ev _er- increasing pilgrim base, results in newer miracle stories appended to shnne booklets and their reprints. Pointing to trees in the darg ah compo1:1nd , fes - tooned with ritual offerings tied to their branches, 4 devotees describe how every brick and plant here is infused with Baba's miraculous powers th~t take effect on all pilgrims immediately after entering the darg ah , even if they are foreigners to the region. 5 At Visalgac;l.h though, I wa~ unable to compare older reprints of the shrine booklet with new ones available_ at the dargiih when doing fieldwork. Devotees descri~ed re~en~-mo~t reprmt_s as increasingly elaborate, a fe ature that resulted m theu d1vers1ficat10~ mto technologically sophisticated forms such as CDs and DVDs. Accordmg to devotees, this diversification is also encouraged by local Muslim reform- ists, who privileged the Quran over any other writte? devotional texts and shrine booklets, which accorded CDs and DVDs with greater acceptance among Muslims. . . Shrine literature is therefore entangled, as an agential and meanmgful artefact, within processes of dargiih-making. While booklets des~ri~ed dargahs as the eternal abode of Sufis arriving in Maharashtra, ennchmg the ritual landscape with Muslim devotion, their narrative simultaneous!y produces dargah devotion by reframing jo~rneys un?ertaken by those m trouble as mystical and miraculous heahng expenences. Furthermore, the wide social base among pilgrims, narratively presented in the booklet sets the scene for readers, who are informed of miraculous encounters at the shrine and learn to anticipate healing at a semi-urban and transcul- tural Sufi 'Muslim pilgrimage center, complete with modern amenities. In the light of this, I suggest that shrine literature encountered ~t pilgri~age centers be considered an independent and intertextual genre of its own kmd , informed by recounted legends and oral narratives of miracles, instead of being classified as grey or pulp literature. Grey/pulp literature as a cate- gory, consisting of various literary genres is chiefly defined by an absence of The Sufi-shrine of Visalga<;lh 183 International Standard Book Numbers, that produces all literature outside formalized publishing as non-conformist and deviant. On the other hand, meticulous examination of these various genres of literature, hitherto en- compassed within the category of grey/pulp, such as shrine literature, can result in an alternative reading, especially if embellished and accompanied by complementing historical and anthropological information. Both the booklet of Baba Malik Reh an and devotees at the dargah , reartic- ulate their devotion of Baba as bhakti, describing Sufis in competitive terms with enlivened (jagrt) Hindu deities and their temples. Baba Malik Rehan is therefore also marked by the miracle of his invisible presence (hay at) at the dargah that produces him as omnipresent. 6 The Visalgac;l.h shrine book- let .resembles the mahiitmya or akhyan format encountered at other Hindu temples in Maharashtra that describe the deity's origin, miracles, fame and the temple's accessibility and amenities for pilgrims. Its narrative compares dargah uriis (urs) or the annual commemoration of the Sufi's birth anni- ~ersary with village-goddess festivals (jatra) in the region, 7 even as Baba's uriis is equated with other Muslim festivals like muharram or Id. The often- overlapping dates between the uriis and other Muslim festivals identify the Sufi with Prophet Muhammad by comparing the pilgrimage made to the dargah with Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina. The Visalgac;l.h dargah is surrounded by a large market (bajarpeth) that is located on a forested mountain-top. This market mostly consists of temporary stalls owned by villagers, who stay at the base of the dargah- mountain and travel to the shrine every day. 8 Only shrine ritualists (mujawar) own homes at the mountain-top and stay near the shrine, accompanied by those seeking Baba's ritual intervention and healing. Th is phenomenon is common in Maharashtra and can be compared with other dargahs , where homeless communities cluster around shrines. 9 Shopkeepers outside the dargah mostly sell ritual articles including sweets, flowers, ornate brocade/ flower-coverings for the grave (cadar) , bottles of rose-water and perfume (it- tar) , sandal-wood powder, incense sticks, coconuts and wish threads, apart from manning shoe-stalls where devotees store footwear before entering the dargah . Besides shrine booklets, shopkeepers also sell pictures, photos of other important religious shrines, prayer booklets, CDs and DVDs, and amulets. Identifiable as a typical form of piety encountered at dargahs in Maharashtra, shops sell traditional drawings of pilgrimage routes to the shrine, imagined as winding roads interspersed by pictures of other shrines that are en-route. The Sufi, in pictures sold at shops, is often depicted as a large and caparisoned, white horse. The horse is an important and pious symbol for Hindu and Muslim devotees at the shrine, since on the one hand it identifies the Sufi as imam Mahdi (the last imam in hiding, known only to Allah) and KalkI (the last avatar of Vishnu). Finally, non-uniform urban growth and the availability of modern amen- ities (food, water, medical and accommodation facilities) at the Vis· algac;l.h mountain-top has altered pilgrimage to the dargah ; an alteration reflected

184 Deepra Dandekar within shrine booklet narratives. Since the chief feature of the booklet aims at producing Baba's moral code, mandatory for every devotee undertaking pilgrimage, unless inviting punishment from the saint, this morality is com- bined with the silent acceptance of urban growth that is delinked from any punishments. To elaborate, the Visalgac;lh shrine booklet exemplifies Baba's strict moral code in a case-description of an ideal pilgrimage undertaken by a devotee travelling through a specific route to the shrine. The case fur- ther recounts how Baba punishes the devotee for breaking prescribed moral rules at the dargah. While these narratives teach pilgrims moral and devo- tional conformity, the booklet remains silent about modernity at Visalgac;lh that side-steps the winding pilgrimage route through the Western Ghats. Devotees no longer walk to the shrine through the prescribed route and Baba does not punish them for it. Instead, this modern alteration, inaugurated by roadways, is reframed in terms of Baba's growing popularity in regions exceeding Western Maharashtra. Neither is the individual devotee .defined by the larger group of pilgrims traveling to the mountain-top. While most devotees drive to the dargah and park their vehicles at the base of the moun- tain, all of them have to climb the mountain to reach the shrine. At the time I was doing fieldwork at Visalgac;lh, a devotee had promised to construct a ropeway to the mountain-top for pilgrims as an expression of his gratitude to Baba. Modern and urban amenities that arrived as gifts to the dargah we re therefore not subject to Baba's punitive gaze, unlike immorality, unbelief in God and disrespect for saints that is narratively recounted as punishable. Pilgrims recount how the somewhat arduous climb to the mountain-top therefore becomes symbolic of their suffering in personal difficulties, as climbing the mountain on foot, despite the presence of a ropeway, provides them ritual space to formulate and meditate on wishes and prayers. Neither are pilgrims the only group climbing the mountain every day, since the way up is also populated by hundreds of shopkeepers and vendors, who cater to pilgrims. The combination of urban growth and morality at the shrine, represented in the booklet as a technologically printed ritual object there- fore becomes extended to all modern products at the shrine that are viewed as ritual objects of devotion. The pejorative descriptions of taboo-breaking contrasted with narrative silence about urban amenities or even modern gifts by devotees at the dargah such as marble-inlay courtyards and drinking wa- ter taps, demonstrate pilgrimage here to be symbolic of the Sufi moral code, encapsulated in the ultimate climb to the mountain-top shrine. The Visalga<;lb dargii.h booklet The 16-page long shrine booklet at Visalgac;lh, titled "Hajrat Ma lik Rehan Mirasaheb Baba (rah.) Visal Ga(i," with an additional sub-title (p. 1) "ka rismat" (miracles), is a small book with bright yellow jacket and photo- copied pictures of the dargah on its front and back. Typical of the genre, the booklet does not mention organizations, author-names, dates, or printing The Sufi-shrine of Vi§alga(ih 185 press details. Neither do the booklet's pages bear any trace of print-framing, decoration or typesetting. Written in the nagarTscript and a mixture of Urdu, Dakkani and Marathi languages, the booklet avoids linguistic uniformity, and therefore produces shared spaces between different religious groups and the linguistic regions of Maharashtra and Telangana. Apart from the intro- ductory passage, the booklet is characterized by five overlapping themes: the Sufi's arrival and the establishment of the Visalgac;lh dargah, his battle with demons, and a description of his reception here that inaugurates the leitmotif of Muslim bhakti . Three subsequent sections describe Baba's moral code for pilgrims at the dargah, pilgrimage route to the shrine, and lastly, his uriis. Introductory Passage: (pp. 2-4) The Visalgac;lh booklet inaugurates the pilgrim's bhakti from the very start, as the narrative begins with a devo- tee requesting Baba for a boon: "Malik Rehan Baba, please fulfill a wish of mine, with God's grace!" (Allah Ice phajalse mera ek /cam kardo, Malik Rehan Baba)! The introductory section proceeds by declaring India a pure country (pavitrabhiimz) that attracted many Sufis (sfiphi, sant, pzr, wall) in the past who guided society (margadarshan). This guidance demolished the barriers of caste (dharma jatT lcz bandista dzvar) and introduced pilgrims to divine humanity (Tshvarzya manavta). Islam is declared an exemplary way of life (adar§a jzvan paddhatT), demonstrated by Hajrat Malik Rehan Mirasaheb from the moment of his birth to the day of his death, in the form of an ideally-led childhood, ideal educational activities, and examples of ideal fil- ial piety (ma111-bapke lcartavya). His life exemplified spousal rights (pati-patni Ice ha/ck, lcartavya), social, political, religious, economic, moral duties, and nationalism (apne vatanse vaphadarT). Further, the booklet claims that nor- mative beliefs about Allah's Prophet guiding only Muslims and those from Arabastan is false, since Allah's Prophet is the universal guide. He guided everyone in the world out of his best intentions for human society (manav samiij). The Prophet, living according to Allah's wishes, provided society with an idealized example (adar§a misal), and he sent his companions, friends and relatives (sahaba) , and many Sufis (siiphi, pzr, wall) on similar missions across the world so that they could convey Allah's message. According to the booklet, Khaja Mainuddin (sic) Chisfi at Ajmer and Hajrat Nijamuddin at Delhi, along with Baba Malik Reban, were given orders (!iulciim) to spread Allah's message in India (bharat). Malik Rehan Baba arrived in the Islamic year (hijri) 750 and while his clan-name was Mirasaheb, the name 'Malik' was a title (laqab) given him by Allah. 10 He belonged to the Khilji tribe from a village called Rehan near Mecca and the name Mirasaheb was also used to identify his nephew, who accompanied him to India. 11 The uncle and nephew (mama-bhafi.ja), buried together at the dargah, were therefore con- sidered a unified Sufi entity: Malik Rehan Mirasaheb. 12 On arriving in India with forty initiates and followers (murzd) and two servants (! chadim), Malik Rehan Mirasaheb received divine orders to travel southwards (dak!~in) to the impenetrable (durgam) region of Konkan. Setting off for Konkan , they

186 Deepra Dandeka r stopped on their way, at village Devac;ia, where a meditation spot (chilla) is sti ll dedicated to their memory. 13 Defeating Demons (pp. 4- 6): Baba climbed the mountain of Visalgac;ih with his horse Buraq and decided to offer prayers at the mountain-top. 14 However, unable to find water for ritual ablutions (vajii), he raised his hand heaven-wards, requesting Allah for water. Thereafter, Buraq reared up, and stamping the ground with his forelegs, broke into a water spring on the mountain; jets of fresh water leapt-up into the air. At the time when Malik Rehan Mirasaheb came to Visalgac;ih, an evil magician named Bhopal (Bhopal-jadugar) used to harass villagers, especially women. He imprisoned pretty women as his concubines by first transforming them into insects and anima ls before capturing them. Bhopal had 52 of such captured concubines at the time Malik Rehan Mirasaheb arrived in Visalgac;ih . Bhopal had also ordered his brother to marry his own sister, despite Baba having forbidden this immorality (nzc gandagi). Ignoring Baba, Bhopal organized a grand and noisy wedding procession of elephants, camels, and horses to disturb Baba's daily prayers (namaj). After finishing his prayers, Baba raised his holy-finger (kalme k"i ungli) pejoratively at the wedding procession, and instantly turned them to stone, bringing an end to Bhopal. 15 The booklet describes various spots within dargah precincts where pilgrims can visit and combine devo- tion with tourism, presenting readers with visions of pleasant relaxation, infused with miracles. The spot where Buraq's hoof-marks drew water, for example, is worshipped as a sma ll shrine in Visalgac;ih (ghode ke tap) and the booklet describes it as a place where travelers find respite from beat. The booklet also describes where Baba turned Bhopal's procession to stone, and this portion of fallen rocks belongs to the broken ramparts of the Visalgac;ih fort, called 'hidden marriage procession' (varhcu;f, gupt). 16 Baba's Reception: (pp. 7- 8, 11 - 13) After defeating Bhopal, Baba began staying at the mountain-top. He was soon joined by Khokli-bii"i (the goddess of coughs and colds), who became his devotee, and to whom Baba delegated the task of blessing childless couples. Baba's mur"id, initiates and attendants who came to Visalgac;ih with him remained loyal, as their graves surround the main shrine. 17 The booklet thereafter narrates many healing experiences at the shrine, like the example of a 60-year-old woman, suffering from child- lessness, who was healed here. Then, the 55-year old Kadar Hasan Mujawar, who came to the dargah from Tasgaon (near Kolhapur) in 1987, was healed of barrenness after making a pilgrimage here. The booklet describes how the dargiih that had grown dilapidated was rebuilt by a devout local Muslim community from Rajapuri (Konkan) in 1942, and finally, the booklet pos- its Baba Malik Rehan Mirasaheb as a historical figure connected to the Deccan Sultanate of Bijapur. It is claimed that the Sufi healed Sultan Adil Shah's father of blindness. 18 Witchcraft had been suspected after Sultan Adil Shah's father's blindness could not be healed, despite various remedies suggested by traditional doctors (vaidyas and hak"ims) . Having heard of Baba's miraculous powers, the Sultan consulted the latter and recounted The Sufi-shrine of Visalgw;ih 187 his father 's suffering to be the result of witchcraft (chalava) . Baba healed the Sultan's father, who regained his eyesight. Fulfilling his vow, Sultan Adil Shah renamed the mountain-top village Visalgac;ih from its earlier name Khelnaghac;ib and bestowed it revenue. 19 Morality, Rituals and Pilgrimage: (pp. 9- 12) The booklet informs readers about how boons at Visalgac;ih are 'earned' by pilgrims through vows made at the dargah. Baba's miracle of fulfilling the pilgrim's wish is counterbal- anced against his acceptance of the pilgrim's vows, making this mechanism of associating wishes with vows, a process of enforcing his moral code. Baba can punish the devotee for rejecting this moral code at the dargah by re- jecting the. pilgrim's vow, and this leaves the latter without blessings. Vows are therefore necessary for pilgrims at Visalgac;lh , to 'complete' their wishes, and corollary to this, the Sufi 's acceptance of vows proves the devotee's in- nocence and her success at adhering to the dargah 's moral code. Proving innocence is an important ritual at the dargah , as devotees are shackled with chains and prescribed to make five rounds of the dargah on foot. The Baba's chains (befl,"i) are important ritual articles hanging on large hooks inside the shrine. These are borrowed by devotees to complete their ritual, and it is common to encounter persons walking around the shrine in chains at Visalgac;ih. These chains are said to automatically unlock and fall away, once Baba accepts the devotee's vow and fulfils her wishes. This produces her as pure candidate for his blessings. 20 The booklet warns its readers about the perils of insulting Baba and dargah rituals. According to a nar- rated example, an important landowner (jiigirdar sarkiir) visited Visalgac;ih and made fun of Baba. He asked an iron-smith to break open the chains secured around his leg s. 21 He then sneered at the Sufi, turned his back to the shrine and sat on an elephant to ride away. At that moment, Baba's befi,"i flew in the air to become clamped around his head. Fainting, and falling off the elephant, the rich landowner apologized to the Sufi, but he was banished from Visalgac;lh. 22 The booklet further elaborates Baba's moral code by narrating the story of two sisters. After the older sister married, the younger sister fell in love with the older sister's husband (b ehno"i). But finding no way of marrying him, she went to Visalgac;lh , asking Baba for a boon. She wished for her sister to die and for her behnof to marry her. As time passed, the older sister grew ill and died, and the younger sister pretended to weep. The village elders (pafi.cayat) , deciding on the case, asked the behno"i to remarry. But since he had a small child, he voiced concerns about whether a new wife as step- mother would look after the child. Everyone suggested he marry bis wife's younger sister (siili) who would care for the child as a mother. So, the behno"i married the sal"i and her wishes were fulfilled. After a few days, she returned to Visalgac;ih, to fulfil her vow (mannat phefl,na). But her chains refused to open, even after making five rounds of the shrine. When the khiidim asked her about her boon, she kept silent. So, he prayed to Baba, even as sh'e con- tinued circumambulating the dargah . Although her feet began bleeding, the

188 Deepra Dandekar chains refused to open. The khiidim again asked: "Sister, tell me what boon you asked"? Finally, the chains broke after she was forced to publicly relate how she had wished for her sister's death , to marry her behno"i. On hearing this admission, everybody at the dargiih fell silent with shock. The booklet reiterates the warning by announcing that devotees must declare their mis- takes at the shrine, especially if their wishes are intentionally harmful (galat man se miinga liua). The pilgrimage route prescribed for devotees at the dargiih is reflected in the story of the two sisters, as the narrative describes the younger sister's pilgrim- age to Visalga<;ih to ask Baba for a boon. While not many devotees take this circuitous route today, the route finds illustration in pictures sold outside the dargah that depicts ritual stops and intermediate destinations. The younger sister made five stops according to the shrine booklet on her way to Visalga<;ih , and this journey took five days. Beginning in Kolhapur, she proceeded to Panhalgadh, Bambavade, Malkapur, Amba, Gajapur, and reached Visalga~ on the sixth day. It is interesting to note that these stops between Kolhapur and Visalga<;ih are also characterized by dargahs and other mountain-top Maratha forts that Shivaji conquered from the Bijapur Sultanate. Panhalgadh, for in- stance, houses the dargah of Sadoba, whereas the other stops are marked by other Maratha forts such as Pawangadh and others. 23 Implicating Maratha forts in Baba's pilgrimage to Visalga<;ih indicates privileging Sultanate polities or Islamic rule to Maratha polity and subverting general notions about Shiv- aji's superiority (Hindav"i Svarajya) in the booklet. Overlaps between Uras, Islamic Festivals, and Pilgrimage: (pp. 13-15) The Sufi's uriis and the dargiih's annual festival is celebrated twice a year to com- memorate Baba Malik Rehan and Mirasaheb 's birthday. While the first uriis sarif"\asts three days, between the 11th and the 13th ofjil-hajj (Dhu al-Hijjah/ Zul-Hijjah or Zil-hajj), 24 the second uriis is celebrated between the 11th and 13th of January, irrespective of the Islamic calendar (a time for uriis that coincides with many other Konkani dargahs). While these dates identify the Sufi with both Prophetic tradition and important Islamic holidays such as Id and the Hajj, they also align the Sufis with other regionally important dargiihs in the Konkan. According to booklet narrative, thousands attend Baba's uriis. Describing the celebrations in detail, the booklet informs read - ers about how devotees experience Baba's special miracle during the uriis when dargiih doors open automatically, demonstrating the Sufi's invisible presence. 25 The first uriis day is dedicated to coating Baba's grave (majar) with lime. Sandalwood paste is smeared on the grave on the second day (sandal), and devotees make a special prayer on that day, commemorating Baba's victory over Bhopal the magician. Sandal is specially brought to the dargah by the Muslim communities of Rajapur, Mumbai, Pune, Satara, and other cities in Karnataka for the uriis. Baba's grave is draped with brocade coverings (gale!) and sheets woven with flower (cadar) on the third day and khad"ims serving at the dargah dedicate a special galef to Baba. The uriis ends on the fourth day. The booklet reiterates how important it is to pray The Sufi-shrine of Visalgafi,h 189 here with a clear (saf) mind with good (nek) intentions. The booklet ends by saying that the dargah of Baba Malik Rehan Mirasaheb at Visalga<;ih consol- idates India's national integration and unity (des kl akhandata aur ektii) and secular democracy (nidharm"i loksiiht). Muslim-Marahti Bliakti and Darga/is Bhakti occupies a certain historical and literary value in Maharashtra 26 that associates its expression with premodern religious emotions, especially in the vernacular. There has been little academic attention to Sufi emotions at dargiihs in Maharashtra, aside from healing practices 27 and the reframing of Sufi piety through the history of Indian secularism. 28 Academic focus on a literary history of Muslim bhakti in the Deccan is therefore incipient and contextualizes the analysis of the above text, as an example of regional and vernacular Muslim bhalcti gleaned from and produced by locally sold shrine booklets at dargiihs. 29 Not only do shrine booklets produce and recount Marathi Muslim bhakti , but they alter mainstream history-writing by introducing politics within its frame. For example, the booklet's focus of locating the Sufi and the dargah within Islamic and Deccan Sultanate polity simultaneously, co-opts non- Islamic regional polity such as the Marathas into its narrative, as sources of pre-existing moral corruption, whereas, historically speaking, Shivaji fol- lowed the Deccan Sultans, maintaining close political alliance with them. 30 The Sufi's arrival at Visalga<;ih and the healing of Sultan Adil Shah's father, momentous events among the Sufi's life deeds, is untenable due to the almost two centuries between the Bahamanis and the Bijapur Sultanate. Neither is there any historical co-relation between the Sufi, the Prophet and North Indian Sufis. Similarly, the renovation of the dargah by the Muslim com- munity from Rajapuri in 1942 is separated by decades from the story of the barren Kadar Hasan Mujawar in 1987. The booklet arranges the recounting of historical incidents in the present tense, and through this arrangement, collapses their internal chronology within narrative format. By flattening or collapsing the narrative, however, the booklet endorses the emotion of Muslim bhakti as an equalizer among devotees, across time and space, and irrespective of historical specificity. The association between Malik Rehan -Mirasaheb, North Indian Sufis, the Khilji tribe, and 'Arabastan', 31 and the Sufi's political alliance with the Sultans of the Deccan (Bahamanis and Bijapur) is therefore a narrative production and constitutes alternative historical reading and writing of local religion. The narrative also indicates the moral conquest over the Marathas by establishing the Visalga<;ih pil- grimage route as Muslim. The shrine booklet provides meaning to other ritual artefacts at Visal- ga<;ih too: iron chains (biiba kl befi,t) hanging on the dargah walls, pictures of the horse holding importance for Hindus and Muslims alike, and paintings of the pilgrimage route that is no longer perfectly followed. The booklet

190 Deepra Dandekar narratively produces the wearing of chains (baba kf bet;if) and the pilgrim's climb to the mountain-top as central to the devotee's ritual initiation in the Sufi's microcosm, elevating bhakti as the dargah's primary morality. The narrative, however, also embroils Sufi-Islam with the eradication of the caste system and Hindu kingship, a feature that hasn't gone unno - ticed by Hindu devotees. Hindu devotees increasingly claim Khokli- Baf as a Hindu goddess rather than as Baba's devotee. 32 The dargah of Baba Malik Rehan Mirasaheb at Visalga<;l.h therefore constitutes an intermediary and interstitial space between various contested identities among pilgrims, and mutually differentiated 'communities'. While Muslim Marathi bhakti nar- ratively negotiates differences between reformist, North Indian Islam, and vernacular Islam, it negotiates dharma, morality and bhakti between Hin- dus and Muslims. Negotiating gender, the narrative production of dargah morality treats sexual immorality and unbelief alike, and as equally sinful. Finally, it is healing and the acceptance of the pilgrim's vows by declaring her bhakti as pure, that Baba's blessings to all pilgrims at the da;gah acts as an equalizer and unifier among genders, classes, regional belonging and religious groups. Conclusion I conclude this article by summarizing the two intertwined themes that I have already stressed: the shrine booklet and its narrative as a framing device that produces Marathi dargahs and Muslim bhakti, and along with this, the literary production of religious pilgrimage as a form of political morality for all devotees, irrespective of gender and religion. Based on Ronie Parciack's analysis (2014, 249- 277) of Chishtiyya Sufi and dargah iconography from Compact Disk media available at shrines from north and central India that produce Islamic deshbhakti (patriotism) within India's Hindu public space, 33 I present my analysis of shrine booklets, such as that from Visalga<;l.h as a political instrument of Muslim deshbhakti and sec- ular modernity in Maharashtra. The booklet narrative refers emphatically to India as a specific political space, described as a purified land wherein Sufi Islam prospered. The booklet also reiterates the political axiom of viewing dargahs as central to India's secularism, democracy and national integration. Since these assertions underline the importance of religious tolerance within the politics of modern India and Maharashtra, these state- ments locate Muslims as minorities, and situate Sufi Islam, Muslim devotion and dargah-morality as enhancers of India's political modernity, democ- racy and secularism. The booklet's production of the dargah, pilgrimage, Sufi Islam, and Muslim bhakti as part of dargah-making activity, therefore implies nation-building in modern India and Maharashtra, while the book- let's dargah - making becomes equated with Sufi Muslim contribution to modern India. The Sufi-shrine of Visal gcu;ih 191 This Sufi Muslim literary production of Indian and Marathi secularism is based on the erasure of Shivaji and the Marathas, who are viewed in politi- cal terms as Hindu. Not only does the booklet's narrative erase Visalga<;l.h as a Maratha fort , but the pilgrimage route to Visalga<;l.h along other Maratha forts in the region (the five ritual stops undertaken by the younger sister that also find representation in pilgrimage pictures) are acts of erasure as well, since Maratha forts in this case are replaced by the pilgrimage route to the dargah . This erasure and replacement of 'Hinduism' highlights Sufi Muslim contribution to secularism in modern India, contrasting with Maratha and Hindu history that is perceived as violent and anti-Indian. The networked region linking Muslim groups who participate in the Sufi's urus and repair and rebuild the dargah further highlights Muslim efforts at dargah-making and nation-building. In a similar vein, as already mentioned, urbanized pil- grimage journeys that no longer adhere to the traditional route narrated in the booklet, bear evidence to how dargahs reflect the modernity of Indian nationhood and its religious institutions that are built out of democratic and secular processes. According to such secular processes, Muslim saints wel- come Hindu devotees, who are already aware of the Muslim contribution to social morality, and hence do not need to replace Maratha forts through traditional pilgrimage routes; they already respect modern Indian Sufi Is- lam. These same secular processes allow devotee-goddesses (Khokli-Baf) to confer boons to childless couples at the Sufi shrine, irrespective of the religion and gender of devotees. And the booklet that produces the dargah therefore produces secular nation-building itself. The introduction to this volume already frames space as a political concept, that includes mobility and pilgrimage as a political exercise, and the shrine booklet from Visalga(J.h mirrors similar processes. The replacement of Shivaji's Hindu political layer at Visalga<;l.h allows Sufi Muslims space to formulate and conceptualize the positive position of minorities in India's religious and political mainstream, inaugurating processes that invite secular Indians to the dargah and heal them as part of modern Indian ethics. The booklet's narrative equates sexual immorality with unbelief and equates these both as forms of moral disrespect towards Baba, resulting in their punishment or the withdrawal of Baba's blessings, as can be seen from Bhopal's case, and the other stories of immorality, unbelief and disrespect narrated in the booklet. Fitting in with the general aim of this volume that scrutinizes relationships between space and mobility and its internal in- terconnectivity with pilgrimage, the shrine booklet from Visalga<;l.h dargah institutes Sufi morality as the primary reason underlying pilgrimage. Un- dertaking this pilgrimage and becoming integrated into the dargah's mi- crocosm to accept Baba's morality by making vows , expressing wishes and 'earning' Baba's blessings are, then, reconstituted as participatory acts of secular dargah-building, nation-building and secular citizenry in modern India and Maharashtra.

192 Deepra Dandekar Notes Since I am arguing for the vernacular identity of Marathi dargiihs , rather than an Islamic or Hindu one I will use Marathi transliterations for Urdu, Persian and Arabic terms in my te~t. I have avoided elevating Urdu, Arabic or Persian trans- literations to fit mainstream representations oflslam and have instead continued to use Marathi transliterations. 2 Cf. Novetzke (2007) for an outline of the public and perforrnative nature of bhakti at Hindu temples and shrines. I am extending Novetzke's argument of bhakti as performance to pilgrimage at Marathi dargiihs that are also public and collective events and expressed through ontological artefacts hke prayer/ hagiography booklets. 3 Cf. Henare et al. (2007) for 'the ontological turn' that formulates a theory of meaningful artefacts in field. 4 Most ritual objects tied to grills and railings leading to the shrine, or trees sur- rounding dargiihs include wish threads or locks that signify a.wish made to the Sufi. 5 Sufi graves are understood to infuse their healing power, known as barkat, into all surrounding, inanimate objects such as the dargiih building, its locality, and ritual objects sold at shops outside. · 6 This is also a commonly held notion about Sufis among Muslims outside Maharashtra (Smith and Haddad 2002, 183). 7 One of the first anti-pilgrimage Marathi missionary booklets from 1871 de- scribes Hindu and Muslim participation in Sufi uriis and the village-goddess's yiitrii or annual festival, as regional, Marathi phenomena (cf. Anonymous 1871). 8 These stalls close by evening, before the evening namiij and this makes the Visa.1- gac;lh dargiih a lonely place at night. One of my key-informants at the dargiih, a shopkeeper (Mr. Choughule), who sold me the Vi salgac;lh-booklet, managed the shop at the mountain -top for two days every week and spent the rest of his time at a puncture-repair shop in the village below. 9 In cities like Mumbai, it is common to find established Muslim communities and localities that build their own mosques and enjoy community control over their traditional burial grounds that facilitate dargiih building controlled byes - tablished waqf boards. A waqf-board refers to a Muslim charitable trust that governs disposal of movable property used for religious and charitable pur- poses under Islamic law (under the Indian waqf act 1954). Dargiih-building and dargiih-renovation therefore aids local Muslim-communities in identity/ history-building through processes that identify important graves and reach a consensus about miracles. Some typical miracles commonly ascribe protective power against natural calamities such as earthquakes and floods to the buried Sufi and the dargiih. (Cf. Green 2011 , for an exploration of processes surrounding Sufi-shrine formation in 19th-century Bombay). 10 Hijri 750 (between 1349 - 1350 C.E.) is an important date for the Deccan, since it coincides with the foundation of the BahamanT Empire (considered the first independent Muslim kingdom of the Deccan and South India) that controll ed a large area of the Deccan, overlapping with current-day Maharashtra by 1 349 C.E. The first Bahamanf ruler, Ala-ad-din Bahman Shah, assumed the throne in 1347 C.E. after freeing himself from the Delhi Sultanate. He wrested control over Visalgac;lh, originally known as the fort ofKbelna or Khel nagac;lb from local Maratha chieftains, who contro ll ed the ports of Ratnagiri. It is not difficult to imagine this court attracting Sufis like Malik Reha.a and Mirasaheb, who trave- Ied to Khelnagac;lh/Visalgac;lh. 11 The place cannot be located on the map today, though Ar Rayyan is a common place-name in Saudi Arabia. And the name Khilji is an important identifying feature, since it associates the Sufi with the Delhi Sultanate. --- The Sufi-shrine of Visii.lgarjh 193 12 My key-informant, Mr. Choughule, provided more information about Malik Rehan Mirasaheb. The two saints, Malik Rehan and Mirasaheb were mutually related as maternal uncle and nephew, and this blood-relationship facilitated the mutual sharing of divine powers through blood-ties (soyrik) between them. Thi s sharing or inheritance was formulaic for the relationship between the Prophet and imiim AlT, since the latter was Prophet Muhammad's cousin. According to Mr. Choughule, not only was establishing such relationships in-line with Prophetic tradition (sunnat), but cross-cousin marriages between the maternal uncle and his sister's son were also considered auspicious in Maharashtra. Mr. Chough ul e hence, combined Malik Rehan and Mirasaheb's story with Prophetic practice and Marathi marriage-traditions, producing local Muslim-Marathi concepts of bhakti. 13 Sufi hagiographies are usually ass ociated with spiritual genealo gy (shajrii) consisting of enlisted Sheikhs and Sufi teachers/ initiator s, who form a networked o_rganization of families and schools (tarTqii or silsilii), engaging in specific spiritu al and intellectual practices. Unknown Sufis without proof of genealogy are either associated with imiim Mahdi or then as Sufis from the Arabian Pen- insula (Dandekar 2015 , 2016). Alternatively, they become Jinked with important Indian Sufis, such as Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti and Nizamuddin Awaliya, vali- dating their links with regional control (viliiyat) under the Sultanate. Cf. Metcalf (2009) about locally worshipped Sufis and their traditions in South Asia. 14 Marathi Sufi shrine booklets often narratively frame mountain-top dargiihs in accordance with details of the Prophet's life. The Sufi's horse for example is often called Buraq or Duldul after the Prophet's horse and mule. While the Sufi's jour- ney on Buraq's back is framed by the Prophet's divine ascension (miriij) , seated on Buraq, his journey with Duldul associates the Sufi with the Prophet and imiim AII's advances in holy war. 15 Vernacular Sufi hagiographies in Maharashtra commonly explain Islamization by describing pre-existing shrines and religious communities as heathen and immoral. Depicting Islam as a civilizing mission against pre-existing culture, much of shrine literature allegedly describes the latter as demonic, immoral , incestuous, and corrupt. Shabnum Tejani describes Lokmanya Tilak's political production (1897 and 1890) of King Shivaji in similar ways (2008, 82- 83) , as be- nevolent and righteous Hindu saviors of a country and community beleaguered by Muslim persecution. Further, Muslim dissent to Hind u musical processions outside Mosques is equally historical. Tejani provides examples of how Hindu musical processions outside mosques resulted in inter-community rioting and legal battles at Yeola (Maharashtra) in 1894 (2008, 61 - 73). 16 Dargiihs, especially those on mountain-tops often share space with Maratha forts ascribed to King Shivaji (1674 - 1680). Sufi shrine booklets pertaining to mountain-top/fort clargiihs commonly challenge the narratives of Maratha her- oism by claiming local topography and structure as remnants of pre-existing corruptions. 17 There seems to have been an old Muslim inh abitation and graveyard at Visa.1- gac;lh. The graves here may have been reframed as Baba's initiates (murzcl) and attendants (khiidim) within the shrine booklet. 18 Many famous Sultans from the Deccan Bijapur like Mohammad Adil Shah (1627 - 1656 C.E.) had strong alliances with both North Indian Sultanates, and the Arabian Peninsula. Grant Duff , one of the earliest Maratha historians of the 19th century (Cf. Deshpande 2007) describes how Khelna was conquered by Shivaji from the Bijapur Sultanate in 1659 C.E., after which he renamed it Visalgac;lh (Duff 1826: vol. I, 177- 178) . 19 To provide a brief history of Khe lna (Visalgac;lh): the fort remained largely under the control of local Hindu chieftains till well into the 15th century, de- spite efforts made by Bahamani Sultans to conquer it. Ferishta (1981 , 2, 268- 272)

194 Deepra Dandekar prnvides vivid descriptions of the fort's impregnability, made additionally ter- nfymg by dense and hostile forests. Describing Khelna Ferishta portrays it as mountainous, with dark walls and dreadful labyrinth;, that allow no light; where the breeze is like a dragon's fetid breath, the water tasting of poison, and the grass like knife-blades. Ferisbta documents how the Bahamanis fought re- peated wars with the Marathas in the region to gain control over Konkani ports, but were defeated due to Visalga<;lh's terrain. Kbelna was briefly controlled by the Vijayanagara kings in the mid-I 5th century and then reconquered by the Bahamanis, under Mahmud Ga wan in 1470 C.E. The entire region passed to the Bijapur Sultanate and Adil Shah at the end of the 15th century (1498 C.E.) and was thereafter conquered by Shivaji. Associations between Marathas and the A?il Shahi Sultanate are considered fluid and P.N. Oak, a hi storian with right- wrng leamngs, calls the Sufi grave at the dargii.h a Shiva temple dedicated to the memory of Vijayanagara king, Mallikarjuna Raya (2001 , 82) . 20 Bas_u (2009) has written extensively on practices of chaining afflictions (balii.) at Gu1arat1 dargii.hs , where pilgrims requiring of healing are chained. She writes that such practices are common and perceived positively by pilgrims as sooth- ing. She advocates for a vernacular understanding of dargii.h rituals, without giving in to liberalist interpretations that are deployed within rationalist frame- works. I would add that the hermeneutics of ritual chaining are also subject to the believer 's experiential microcosm. The contested intensity of dargii.h-piety transcends rationalist and reformist debates, just as experiences of healing can sometimes evade language. 21 The landlord 's style of condemning dargii.h rituals, by making blacksmiths unlock his chains, is similar to the methods of the rationalist movement, while demonstrating scientific reasons for miracles (cf. Quack (2012) for research on the anti-superstition movement in rural Maharashtra). 22 It is also not as if a Muslim reformist critique of the Visalga<;lh dargii.h does not exist (cf. Momin 2002, 70). However, it is more common to encounter examples of rationalist critiques in shrine booklets as accusations of anti-Muslim attack. 23 Cf. Campbell (1886). 24 According to my key-informant, Mr. Choughule, uriis festivals at rural dargii.hs provide poorer Muslims with an experience of Hajj or umrii.. Besides, even Hindus enjoy the Hajj-wnrii. expe[ience through urus. Moreover, at Vi salga<;lh, the urus dates overlap with Bakri-Id, or the sacrifice and feast that marks the end of Hajj. 25 I was unable to verify this collective miracle but on asking, I was repeatedly told of the miracles devotees experienced privately during the celebration. 26 Cf. Novetzke (2016) for the literary and historical value of Bhakti traditions in medieval Maharashtra. 27 Bellamy (2011) and Mohammad's (2013) academic contributions, though not focused on Maharashtra, therefore constitute a breakthrough, when describing Sufi emotions in the vernacular. 28 C.f. Assayag (1993) for relationships between Hindu goddesses and Muslim saints at the famous temple of Yellamma at Saundatti, Karnataka. 29 Exploration of bhakti, its meaning, experiences and emotions have been int~nsely discussed (Hawley 2015), though defining any singular understanding of 1t, apart from a rudimentary translation as 'devotion', has proved elusive, due to the myriad vernacular expressions associated with it. 30 C.f. _Laine (2003) for an exploration of Maratha (and especially Shivaji 's) relationship with the Sultans of Bijapur. 31 Konkani Muslims today (known as the Navii.yatis) consider themselves to be descendants from Arabs, who arrived in Konkan and We stern Maharashtra as traders in the 10th century (Momin 2002). The Sufi-shrine of Visalga(ih 195 32 Hayden (2002) has discussed the question of shrine-conversion in Maharashtra at Madhi (wherein a Sufi shrine was converted to the shrine of a Hindu deity), explaining such conversions through the theories of antagonistic tolerance. 33 Parciack (2014 , 249 -277) presents imagery and iconography from the media available at Chishtiyya dargii.hs by analyzing these images within the framework of Muslim deshbhakti or patriotism in Hindu-dominated India, in accordance to their relative position and power within social space. References Anonymous. 1871. Urus va Yatresa1riba11zdhi zar1mar1 yal?lvishayfl/Z sa11zbhasha,:ze1rz . Bombay: Bombay Books and Tracts Society. Anonymous. No date. Hajrat Malik Rehii.n Mirii.siiheb Baba (rah.) Visa.I Gar;I.: Karismii.t . No Publisher. Assayag, Jackie. 1993. The Goddess and the Saint: Acculturation and Hindu- Muslim Communalism in a Place of Worship in South India (Karnataka), Studies · in History 9(2): 219-245. Basu, Helene. 2009. Contested Practices of Control: Psychiatric and Religious Mental Health Care in India, Curare 32(1+2): 28- 39. Bella~y, Carla. 2011. The Powerful Ephemeral: Everyday Healing in an Ambiguously Islamic Pla ce. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press. Campbell, James N. 1886. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency Volume XXIV Kolhapur. Bombay: Government Central Press. Dandekar, Deepra. 2015/16. MurnbaI ke Au!Iya: The Sufi Saints Makhdoom Ali Mahimi (Mumbai) and Hajji Malang(Mumbai-Kalyan) in Songs and Hagiography, Zeitschriftfur Indologie und Sudasienstudien 32/33: 233- 255. Dandekar, Deepra. 2016 . Grey Literature at the Dargah of PTr Babar Sheikh at Hatis, Panth eon: Journal for the Study of R eligions 11(1): 121 - 135. Deshpande, Prachi. 2007. Creative Past s: Hi storical Memory and Identity in Western India 1700- 1960. Ranikbet: Permanent Black. Ferishta, Mahomed Kasim. 1981 [1829). History of th e Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India till the Year A.D. 1612, 4 vols., translated by John Briggs, New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation. Grant Duff , James. 1826. A History of the Mahrattas, 3 vols. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green. Green, Nile. 2011. Bombay Islam: The Religious Economy of the West Indian Ocean, 1840- 1915. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Guba, Ranajit. 2002. History at the Limits of World-History. New York: Columbia University Press. Hawley, John Stratton. 2015. A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Hayden, Robert M. 2002. Antagonistic Tolerance: Competitive Sharing of Reli- gious Sites in South Asia and the Balkans, Current Anthropology 43(2): 205- 231. Henare Amiria, Martin Holbraad, Sari Wastell (ed.). 2007. Thinking Through Things: Theorizing Artefacts Ethnographically. Oxon: Routledge. Laine, James. W. 2003. Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Metcalf, Barbara (ed.). 2009. Islam in South Asia: In Practice. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

196 Deepra Dandekar Mohammad, Afsar. 2013. The Festival of Pfrs: Polpular Islam and Shared Devotion in South India. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Momin, Mohiuddin. 2002. Mu slim Communities in Medieval Konkan ( 610 - 1900 A .D.). New Delhi: Sundeep Prakashan. Novetzke, Christian Lee. 2007. Bhakti and Its Public, International Journal of Hindu Studies 11(3 ): 255 - 272. Novetzke , Christi an Lee. 2016 . The Quotidian Revolution: Vernacularization, R eligion, and th e Premodern Public Sphere in India. New York: Columbia University Pre ss . Oak [•kl, Pu. Na. 2001 [1989] . Samast itiho.sko.riinna ni!fprctbh kan:io.rii sodh: To.jmahal he tejomaho.lay a.h e. Pune: Raviraj Prakasan. Parciack, Ronie. 2014. Islamic deshbhakti: Inscribing a Sufi Shrine into the Indian Nation-space, Contributions to Indian Sociology 48(2): 249- 277. Quack, Johannes. 2012 . Disenchanting India: Organised Rationalism and Criticism of R eligion in India. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Pre ss . Smith, Jane Idleman and Yvonne Yazbeck Haddad . 2002 [1981]. The Islamic Un- derstanding of Death and R es urrec tion. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. Tejani, Shabnum. 2008. Indian Secularism: A Social and Intellec tual History, 1890- 1950. Bloomington: Indiana University Pre ss . 10 Approaches to pilgrimage Reading some post-Independence pilgrimage accounts in modern South Asian languages 1 Hans Harder Introduction It would be an understatement to say that pilgrimage in South Asia is as lively a phenomenon today as in earlier times. Judged by the sheer numbers of pilgrims, it is livelier than ever. Evidence suggests that the spread of modern means of transport such as the railways has led to ever-increasing pilgrimage activities since colonial days (Ahuja 2004, 110) - a fact that did not find appreciation in all quarters of society and was famously lamented by M. K. Gandhi in his Hind Swara_j (1909): The holy places of India have become unholy. Formerly, people went to these places with very great difficulty. Generally, therefore, only the real devotees visited such places. Nowadays, rogues visit them in order to practise their roguery. (1997, 47) The inversely proportional relationship between rapid locomotion and religious merit in pilgrimages has troubled others as well, both contempo- raries of Gandhi 2 and posterior writers to be dealt with in the following. But whatever the assessment of increased pilgrimage activity may be, what is striking is that the role of ritual journeys in modern South Asian literatures appears to be quite marginal. Of course, the present author cannot claim to have access to even a fracture of the languages these literatures are written in, and is aware how hazardous it is to start off with such a general state- ment. However, what catalogue research for titles and keywords 3 yields and literary histories confirm is precisely this. Pilgrimage narratives are no genre in their own right in literary histories of modern South Asian languages, but linger somewhere between, or inside, autobiographical and travel literature or hagiography, ritual manuals, miihiitmya and sthalapurii,:ia. 4 The mostly Hindu-connoted term yiitrii, "(religious) travel ," for example, is frequently used in modern literature, but usually refers to travels rather than pilgrim- ages, and certainly does not stand for any critical mass of pilgrima~e ac- counts. The term ziyiirat (Arabic z iyiira) , used for pilgrimage to saintly tombs

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References (29)

Anonymous. 1871. Urus va Yatresa1riba11zdhi zar1mar1 yal?lvishayfl/Z sa11zbhasha,:ze1rz. Bombay: Bombay Books and Tracts Society.
Anonymous. No date. Hajrat Malik Rehii.n Mirii.siiheb Baba (rah.) Visa.I Gar;I.: Karismii.t . No Publisher.
Assayag, Jackie. 1993. The Goddess and the Saint: Acculturation and Hindu- Muslim Communalism in a Place of Worship in South India (Karnataka), Studies • in History 9(2): 219-245.
Basu, Helene. 2009. Contested Practices of Control: Psychiatric and Religious Mental Health Care in India, Curare 32(1+2): 28-39.
Bella~y, Carla. 2011. The Powerful Ephemeral: Everyday H ealing in an Ambiguously Islamic Place. Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press.
Campbell, James N. 1886. Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency Volume XXIV Kolhapur. Bombay: Government Central Press.
Dandekar, Deepra. 2015/16. MurnbaI ke Au!Iya: The Sufi Saints Makhdoom Ali Mahimi (Mumbai) and Hajji Malang(Mumbai-Kalyan) in Songs and Hagiography, Zeitschriftfur Indologie und Sudasienstudien 32/33: 233-255.
Dandekar, Deepra. 2016. Grey Literature at the Dargah of PTr Babar Sheikh at Hatis, Pantheon: Journal for the Study of R eligions 11(1): 121-135.
Deshpande, Prachi. 2007. Creative Pasts: Historical Memory and Identity in Western India 1700-1960. Ranikbet: Permanent Black.
Ferishta, Mahomed Kasim. 1981 [1829). History of the Rise of the Mahomedan Power in India till the Year A.D. 1612, 4 vols., translated by John Briggs, New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation.
Grant Duff, James. 1826. A History of the Mahrattas, 3 vols. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green.
Green, Nile. 2011. Bombay Islam: The Religious Economy of the West Indian Ocean, 1840-1915. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Guba, Ranajit. 2002. History at the Limits of World-History. New York: Columbia University Press.
Hawley, John Stratton. 2015. A Storm of Songs: India and the Idea of the Bhakti Movement. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Hayden, Robert M. 2002. Antagonistic Tolerance: Competitive Sharing of Reli- gious Sites in South Asia and the Balkans, Current Anthropology 43(2): 205-231.
Henare Amiria, Martin Holbraad, Sari Wastell (ed.). 2007. Thinking Through Things: Theorizing Artefacts Ethnographically. Oxon: Routledge.
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Hans Harder

FAQs

What has contributed to the resurgence of pilgrimage at Visalgadh in recent decades?add

The study finds that urban growth in regions around Mumbai, Kolhapur, and Ratnagiri has increased access to the Visalgadh dargah, resulting in a significant rise in pilgrim numbers over the past 20 years.

How does the shrine booklet shape the Muslim bhakti experience at dargiihs?add

The analysis reveals that the shrine booklet acts as an ontological artifact, narrating miracles and prescribing moral codes that shape pilgrims' experiences and expectations during their visit to Baba Malik Rehan's dargah.

What themes dominate the narratives within the Visalgadh shrine booklet?add

The booklet prominently features themes of Sufi arrival, miraculous deeds, moral codes, healing experiences, and comparisons between Sufi celebrations and broader Islamic festivals, enhancing the cultural significance of the dargah.

How do pilgrims reconcile urban modernity with traditional pilgrimage routes?add

The research shows the contradiction where modern conveniences, such as roadways, are accepted, yet pilgrims still engage in traditional rituals, perceiving the climb to the dargah as deeply symbolic of personal struggles.

What role does the dargah play in local inter-religious dynamics between Hindus and Muslims?add

The findings highlight that the Visalgadh dargah serves as a shared devotional space, fostering communal ties between Hindus and Muslims while simultaneously negotiating religious identities through collective rituals.

About the authors

Deepra Dandekar

Universität Heidelberg, Post-Doc

Jürgen Schaflechner

Freie Universität Berlin, Faculty Member

Muslim-Marathi pilgrimage: the Sufi-shrine of Visalgadh

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