Paper short abstract:

This paper explores a diverse spectrum of shrines in and around the walled city of Amritsar and proposes that street shrines correspond to lived neighbourhoods of the city and exemplify the pre-partition memories of belonging in modern India.

Paper long abstract:

Amritsar is generally associated either with Golden Temple as a major center for 'Sikh' veneration or Durgiana temple as a central shrines of urban 'Hindus'. While Golden Temple emerged in medieval India, Durgiana Temple emerged in the early twentieth century as a result of reform movements that led to polemical debates on religious boundaries in South Asia. However, the walled city is also dotted with unique street shrines that defy easy classification as 'Hindu' or 'Sikh' shrines. These shrines are a mix blend of pre-partition and contemporary shrines. The city also memorializes several Sufi mystics each year through urs celebrations in the memory of Baba Lakhdata, Baba Farid and local pirs that transform the streets of the Amritsar by engaging people from diverse spectrum of caste hierarchy. These practices continue to define the contours of sacred space in urban India that is generally believed to be etched into communal stereotypes. I explore these shrines, practices and associated semiotics to make sense of debates on religion in South Asia and argue that rather than following the 'sedimentary' theories of religious change we need to consider 'popular' religion as overlapping layers of religious practices that delineate the lived and everyday spatiality, and exemplify the pre-partition memories of belonging in modern India.