
Susan Prill
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Papers by Susan Prill
Namdev in Indian popular art. Posters and calendars are
the key mode of religious visual expression in India today,
and are the locus of ongoing debates about sainthood
and religious identity. The particular focus of this article is
Namdev’s representations in the state of Punjab, northwest
India. Punjab is home to both Sikh and Hindu communities,
which make competing claims about Namdev’s relevance and
hagiography. This article examines portrayals of Namdev in
the poster art found at two Punjabi shrines: one at Ghoman,
which draws mainly Sikh devotees, and one in Bassi Pathana,
which has a predominantly Hindu base. These shrines
produce and distribute portraits of Namdev that are strikingly
different from each other. Additionally, it looks at Namdev art
not explicitly associated with either shrine, which sometimes
appears to represent a compromise between the Ghoman
and Bassi Pathana portrayals. The representations of Namdev
available in Punjab today illustrate both tensions between
regional and pan-Indian interpretations of sainthood and
a newer debate within Sikhism itself as to how “Sikh” Sikh
religious art must be.
Namdev in Indian popular art. Posters and calendars are
the key mode of religious visual expression in India today,
and are the locus of ongoing debates about sainthood
and religious identity. The particular focus of this article is
Namdev’s representations in the state of Punjab, northwest
India. Punjab is home to both Sikh and Hindu communities,
which make competing claims about Namdev’s relevance and
hagiography. This article examines portrayals of Namdev in
the poster art found at two Punjabi shrines: one at Ghoman,
which draws mainly Sikh devotees, and one in Bassi Pathana,
which has a predominantly Hindu base. These shrines
produce and distribute portraits of Namdev that are strikingly
different from each other. Additionally, it looks at Namdev art
not explicitly associated with either shrine, which sometimes
appears to represent a compromise between the Ghoman
and Bassi Pathana portrayals. The representations of Namdev
available in Punjab today illustrate both tensions between
regional and pan-Indian interpretations of sainthood and
a newer debate within Sikhism itself as to how “Sikh” Sikh
religious art must be.