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Renaming Sites, Rewriting Histories. The Role of Pilgrimage in the Process of Negotiation and Transformation of Sacred Sites Shared by Muslims And(..)

Presenter:

· Sara Mondini Ca' Foscari University (Venezia, Italy)

Timeslot:

07/27 | 11:00-11:20 UTC+2/CEST

Abstract

(..)Lingayats in Northern Karnataka. The mausoleum of the Muslim ruler Ahmad Shah Bahmani (r. 1422-1436) in Ashtur (Karnataka), each year on the occasion of the sovereign’s ‘urs is the destination of a pilgrimage that involve Muslims and Lingayats. This over 150 km foot march touches a series of sites along an itinerary that twists and turns through the districts of Gulbarga and Bidar and culminates with a five-day festival by the mausoleum itself. During the last decades the pilgrimage has gained popularity and is attracting a growing number of devotees. The yātrā, object of recent studies, is often presented as a moment of harmonious coexistence standing against extremisms and religious violences. A closer examination of the contemporary dynamics of frequentation of the site seems to reveal a slow transformation in the attempt to redefine or rewrite its identity. If chronicles and hagiographies in fact allow to trace out its importance and the establishment of rituals through the centuries, today, modern political parties have elected the celebrations as the ideal scenario for political propaganda. The paper, through the analysis of texts, rituals and monuments - as ‘witnesses’ and ‘products’ of this religious complexity - aims to shed light on the present competitions and negotiations on part of the various religious groups, today transposed and inscribed on the cultural historical landscape. This will contribute to speculate on the modern attempt to rewrite the history of the mausoleum and of the further sites touched by the pilgrimage, and their progressive re-definition on the base of local exigences, communities’ expectations and projections.