Syncretism and Pilgrimage in India

Abstract

This article, partly based on fieldwork with the Saibaba Sansthan of Shirdi, examines the complex interplay of syncretism, pilgrimage and associated Hinduisation which contributes to the contemporary countenance of the Sansthan, its recreation and recasting of Saibaba memories and the transposing of Shirdi social geographies. Through syncretism and pilgrimage, eventually usurped by the dominant Hindu majoritarian lens, Saibaba devotionalism complements the contemporary theoretical work on ‘lived religion’. The Sansthan traditions not only supply relevant doctrines, narratives and belief systems but also embodied technologies through which the moral subjectivities of Saibaba devotees can be transformed. Akin to Bourdieu’s concepts of practice and habitus, the Sansthan’s doctrines shape the moral and faith-oriented selves of devotees while working towards a kind of holism wherein the goal is not solely individual spiritual enhancement but much more.