[Reader-list] Structural and functional changes at shrines verify "shrine as an anodyne in Kashmir"

[Hilal Bhat]

Structural and functional changes at shrines verify
"shrine as an anodyne in Kashmir"

by Hilal Bhat
Sarai fellow, srinagar Kashmir

In my recent filed visits pertaining to the Sarai
fellowship, my interaction with the devotees and the
caretakers of shrines evoked the evidences which
objectively verify increasing number of devotees
visiting the shrines in Kashmir valley. 

An example is the shrine of Syed Simnani in south
Kashmir,where this bourgeoning trend shows the manner
in which the shrine is progressively attracting a
greater number of pilgrims. 

Lots of changes have occured both at the structural
and functional level of this sacred institution in the
wake of exponentitial increase of conflict devastatted
kashmiris taking refuge at the shrines. Many recent
structures have come up in the shrine complex besides
the renovation of the existing structures to the
extent which transcends the normal change and
constitutes a significant indicator of the fact that
the people visit the shrine in an unprecedented way.
This is so because the shrines are largely dependent
for their maintenance on the offerings provided by the
devotees in cash as well as kind, therefore the
greater the popularity of the shrine the greater is
the number of devotees who visit and the volume of
offerings increases in like proportion.

In the courtyard of the shrine proper there was a
small graveyard which has been made part of the shrine
complex where the devotees eat Tehri (Traditional
Offering in the form of fried rice). Towards the
opposite of the main gate an additional structure has
been built to provide basic facilities for devotees
who come here and offer goats and sheep as sacrifice
for getting their grievances redressed. Many sheep are
routinely put to sacrifice for the purpose here. The
meat is distributed to the poor and needy who make a
beeline at the shrine.

Changes at the functional front of the shrine have
also occured in the same period. Earlier the devotees
would generally visit in large numbers on fridays. But
the dependence of the people on saint for various
reasons more or less related to conflict has forced
the shrine management committe to set apart thursday
night for special prayers which go on for the whole
night with thousands of people participating in it.

That the income of the shrine has increased
significantly in the past many years is also shown by
the fact that a process of auctioning of the offerings
that the shrine collects has been institutionalized in
the recent past.Interested parties bid a certain
amount of money in cash against the offerings(in
whatever form)that are collected by the shrine in each
year. The money is received by the management of the
shrine which is then used for various tasks and
commitments that the shrine management has. This
process has been started to simlify the complex task
of managing the yearly offerings that the shrine
receives as the offerings come in multifarious forms
to the shrine,as cash or as valuables or in the form
of livestock. The auctioning arrangement creates a
hard cash component that is easily manageable and
deployed to various ends that the shrine management
thinks fit.

Hilal Bhat
Sarai Fellow
Srinagar Kashmir. 






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