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Abstract |
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I maintain, in this paper, that jarams, Islamic mausoleums in Kerala, have to be understood from two aspects: one as a space of religious plurality and another as a device for collective memory. One researcher regards religious practices of common people at dargahs (Islamic mausoleums generally in South Asia) as having the character to fuse different religions, in which we can find some possibility to resolve the communal problems of India. I would point out that jarams have both sides: one for religious coexistence and another for communalism. And the idea of the two aspects of jarams is also useful to understand that one jaram has a different meaning for each group at the same time. Jarams of martyrs, which are idiosyncratic in Kerala, can be seen to have developed this aspect as a device of collective memory. They serve Mappila people to form an identity of those who fight against oppression in their severe history. I will discuss jarams which convey the Mappila’s collective memory of the Portuguese invasion into Kerala in the 16th century and their fight against it. |
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