Understanding Culture and Society in India: A Study of Sufis, Saints and Deities in Jammu Region

The cult of Sufis, saints, and deities portrays a living spiritual heritage of culture, society, and religion of the region as depicted in the book (ed. Abha Chauhan) Understanding Culture and Society in India: A Study of Sufis, Saints and Deities in Jammu Region, published in 2021 by Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The 13 chapters in the book are accounts of various forms and modes of saint and deity worship in the Jammu region of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in northwest India. The chapters bring out the significance of local religious traditions as lived experiences, and Sufi and deity shrines as alternative and shared places of worship that give meaning and purpose to people’s everyday lives. These sites and associated religious beliefs and practices serve as liminal spaces cutting across organized and dogmatic religious traditions of Islam and Hinduism, exhibiting the underlying strength of the composite and pluralistic culture in the conflict and violence-ridden territory of Jammu and Kashmir. As this book explains, it is these fuzzy religious sites, sacred time, spaces, and persona that provide mutual tolerance, inter-community harmony, and flexibility to the cultural landscape of Jammu and Kashmir. Herein lies the strength of the book, making it useful for scholars working in the areas of the sociology of religion, social anthropology, religious and cultural studies, Sufism, shrines, and deity worship, particularly in South Asia. The chapters in the book are largely based on ethnographic data collected through qualitative methods like participant and non-participant observations, case studies, narratives, in-depth interviews, and oral history.