Raga in Rameshwaram: Piety and Performance among Chennai’s Punjabi Sikh community on Pilgrimage
The Sikhs, members of a monotheistic religion founded in 15th century Punjab, maintain strong communities in their homeland in north India but are also highly dispersed, both within India and around the globe. Punjabi Sikhs living in Chennai, located 1,500 miles south of the Indian State of Punjab, make pilgrimages not only to Punjab, however, but also to Rameshwaram, where they retrace the travels (udasis) of their founder, Guru Nanak, in the early modern period. Through an exploration of the connections between diaspora and ritual performance, this discussion explores the ways in which the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu has been established as a place of sacred Geography for the Sikh community.
This is a brownbag event. Please bring your lunch.
