Twelfth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

This study explores the making and unmaking of unique shrine culture at an integrated religious site in north India. In particular, what prompts Hindu devotees to save “the otherness” of two Muslim saints from harms from right-wing Hindus who, after recent political developments in India, began to challenge the religious others’ presence next to Hindu sacred figures, Shiva and Hanuman. Following Carla Bellamy, it is shown that Muslim saints represent power ready to be used and harnessed by Hindus if they are willing to transcend their religious boundaries, which in turn, following Levinas, creates an ethics of responsibility for “the other” demanding protection of the Muslim saints’ ontological being and their unique symbolism of devotion and power among Hindus. Hindu devotees, it is argued, follow cooperative segregation and emphasise the importance of distinction to save the culture of difference, co-existence, and otherness at this shared religious site.