Summary 
Contrary to the received tropes of Sikh or secular historiography, Punjabi Sufi shrines offer a critical template to understand the in-the-making process of religious formation. Post-partition in 1947, East (Indian) Punjab became pre-dominantly non-Muslim, leading to abandonment of a large spectrum of Sufi shrines by Muslim caretakers. Interestingly, these shrines became alive within a decade after Partition, as rituals and practices were reinstated and expanded. Urs, qawwali (musical gathering), langar (community kitchen), kushti-dangal (wrestling), etc. were crucial in this enterprise. Importantly, there was a continued recognition of these being Sufi shrines. However, during the period of the 1980’s and 1990’s, violent militant movement targeted several of these shrines. Several Muslim and non-Muslim caretakers were killed and some shrines were also bombed. Once the militancy weakened, newer sets of shrines emerged in both the rural and urban landscapes. Known variedly as marhi, dargah, khanqah, nigaha or jatheras, these shrines open up fascinating possibilities to decode the continued existence of Sufi shrines in a non-Muslim landscape. Through a reading of saint shrines in Ghuram, Langiana, Abohar and Makhu, this paper will explore the landscape in which saint shrines exist and how these navigate the pressures of dominant narratives. 

Yogesh Snehi teaches history at the School of Liberal Studies, Ambedkar University Delhi. His major teaching and research interests focus on Punjab and debates on popular religion and its practice. He has been a Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (2013–15). His recently published monograph Spatializing Popular Sufi Shrines in Punjab: Dreams, Memories, Territoriality (2019, London & New Delhi: Routledge) situates saint veneration practices in the partitioned (Indian) Punjab. Snehi has also jointly edited a volume Modernity and Changing Social Fabric of Punjab and Haryana (2018, New Delhi: Primus).