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About this talk

How do people continue to share sacred spaces when religious identities are becoming increasingly politicised? Shared Sacred Sites in South Asia: Negotiating Coexistence and Belonging explores the shrines, temples, churches, pilgrimage sites and other sacred spaces where communities of different religious backgrounds meet, worship and negotiate their relationships with one another. Edited by Laurent Gayer, Christophe Jaffrelot, Aminah Mohammad-Arif and Grégoire Schlemmer, the volume moves across India, Pakistan, Nepal and Mauritius to examine what these shared spaces can tell us about coexistence, religious boundaries and belonging in contemporary South Asia. Rather than treating religious sharing simply as evidence of harmony, the contributors examine the tensions, negotiations and inequalities that accompany it—showing shared sacred sites as spaces where pluralism is continually practised, challenged and remade. At a moment when religious and cultural identities are increasingly mobilised politically, the book asks whether such spaces can transcend social and religious divisions, and how caste, class, language and gender shape encounters that do not fit neatly within conventional religious boundaries. Join us for the launch of Shared Sacred Sites in South Asia, with Christophe Jaffrelot, Laurent Gayer, and Jusmeet S Sihra followed by questions from the audience.

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