Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses representations of Sufi space in Indian popular culture by analysing the motif of pilgrimage to Sufi shrines in Muslim devotional films produced during the 1970s and 80s.

Paper long abstract:

Several films classified as Muslim devotional were produced in India during the 1970s and 80s. Lengthy depictions of pilgrimage to Sufi shrines are ubiquitous to these films with sequences often shot on location. Although the genre has since all but vanished, its depiction of shrines has affected the visual aesthetics of popular qawwali recordings widely sold in and around South Asian Sufi centres.

This paper seeks to discuss the Sufi space in the intersection of religion and popular culture, belief and commercial entertainment. Pilgrimage to Sufi shrines is essential to the plot of Muslim devotional films, since only divine intervention can normally help in solving the problems the protagonist finds himself in. However, the pilgrimage sequences act simultaneously as attractions than aim at making the film more successful by appealing to the religious sentiments of the target audience. These scenes are regularly more elaborate than the plot alone would require: instead of only one shrine, the most extensive pilgrimages cover as many as fifty and the visits to shrines often take place against the background of qawwali music performed by the most popular artists.

By focusing on Muslim devotional films, the paper seeks to broaden the discussion on Sufi space beyond the conventional religious and institutional frameworks by taking into consideration the commercial representations produced by actors who do not hail from the class of religious specialists engaged with shrines.