We are lovers of the Qalandar : piety, pilgrimage, and ritual in Pakistani Sufi Islam / Jürgen Wasim Frembgen ; foreword by Michel Boiven

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Frembgen, Jürgen Wasim, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sufism--Pakistan.

Sufism.

Sufism--Rituals.

Qalandar Lal Shahbaz, 1177-1274.

Qalandar Lal Shahbaz.

Pakistan.

Physical Description:

xix, 170 pages, 40 unnumbered pages of plates : color illustrations, portraits ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Karachi : Oxford University Press, 2021.

Summary:

"This book is about Pakistan's most popular Sufi saint Lal Shahbaz Qalandar whose shrine in Sehwan Sharif is one of the most fascinating sanctuaries in the Muslim world. At the time of pilgrimage, this flourishing cult centre becomes a vibrant place of ecstatic religiosity marked by intense forms of devotion. The present ethnographic study is organized around three themes: piety, pilgrimage, and ritual. Thus, its focus is first on visual culture and 'material religion' as well as various aspects of religious aesthetics which highlight how sacred spaces are constructed and shaped. Secondly, it deals with the year-round pilgrimage, mainly investigating pilgrims from Punjab (including a unique life history of a female 'Sufi lineage' from Lahore), but also discussing remarkable ritual agents in the cult. The third theme is the spectacular trance dance known as dhamāl. On February 16, 2017, a suicide bomber executed a horrible massacre among the dancing devotees. This work, which is the fruit of the author's field-research between 2003 and 2015 in Sindh and Punjab, aims to contribute to a 'Sufism observed' which often seems to be neglected in mainly text-based Sufi studies. It is an academic companion to his earlier At the Shrine of the Red Sufi (OUP, 2011)." --Provided by publisher

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: I. Visual Piety

The Iconic Presence of Lai Shahbaz Qalandar

II. From Popular Devotion to Mass Event

Placards and Banners of Punjabi Pilgrims

III. Entranced with Love for the Qalandar

Sufi Networks of Punjabi Pilgrims

IV. A Female Circle of Pilgrims from Lahore

The Life Story of Mai Kausar

V. Betwixt and Between

Figures of Ambiguity in the Sufi Cult of Lai Shahbaz Qalandar

VI. The Performing Body

Trance Dance in the Devotional Sufi Practice at Sehwan.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 159-167) and index.

ISBN:

9789697340156

9697340153

OCLC:

1252411413

Publisher Number:

99988667316