Emerging Contours of Contemporary Persona of a Baba: A Case Study of Punjab, India

Sanjay Dansalia

Abstract: The hallmark of Punjab's mystical traditions is an amalgamation of religious materials of pluralistic mystical expressions like nirgun sampradaya, sahaja samadh, sahajaniya budhism, mahayana, vajarayana, tantric, hath yogis, nath panthi, kann phata yogis, sahajiya Vaishnavism, bouls of Bengal, chisti, qadri and sohrawardi sufi traditions amongst others. Punjab became the epicenter of these far flung regional expressions of mystical traditions within and outside India. Each tradition carried within itself a global world view represented through respective regionalities. However, these regionalities instead of being watertight compartments participated in a porous interpenetrative multicultural, philosophical, theological, socio-cultural, politico-economic terrain. Moreover, on Indian soil these varied mystical expressions, instead of relying on textuality, were highly oral, carrying within themselves components of cultural performances which engaged with regional myths, symbols, dialects, idioms, rituals, etc. Hence, these became mediums of the flow and sites for exchange of theological, philosophical, ideological and intellectual trends. Orality, as a cultural performance, found expression through lyrics.

Keywords: Mystical, Lyrical, Oral, Travelogue, Collectivism, Regionalism, Globalism, Dissent, Punjab