Ritual Journey and Symbolic Journey: Elements of Pilgrimage to the Sufi Saints’ Shrines in Hyderabad

Abstract

The subject of this paper is a traditional visit to the graves of Sufi saints, the ziyārat, at a particular shrine in contemporary Hyderabad. One aim is to highlight, through a symbolic analysis, the peculiarities of this type of sacred journey. Another aim is to discuss the symbolic transformations that pilgrims undergo in the pilgrimage process. The paper concludes that the ziyārat can be viewed as a journey, undertaken by a person in quest of a place that embodies a valued ideal, from an imperfect and mundane environment to a perfect one. Ritual hints at the superiority of the moral universe embodied by the saint over the system that rules secular society, through the softening of social divisions among participants, and through emphasis on status differences in the internal hierarchy of the shrine.