Montag, 2. Juni 2025 – 11:30 bis 13:00 Uhr – Hörsaal 2

im Rahmen der VO Musiktraditionen der Religionen Südasiens 

Interessierte sind herzlich eingeladen!

Abstract

For centuries shabad kirtan, the devotional music of the Sikhs, was sung in large part by a community of Muslim musicians known as rababis, as part of a shared devotional practice that was plural in socio-religious character, despite no longer being represented as such today. The short film Mardana’s Children tells the story of the rababis from the perspective of members of their community that, today, live in Lahore, Pakistan.

Alongside the screening, co-producer Kirit J. Singh will present a talk outlining the central role of the rababis in Sikh history, with special focus on the manner in which these original custodians of Sikh devotional music came to be marginalised by the Sikhs in the late colonial period, in the face of an unprecedented wave of religious identity politics that had come to engulf the region of Punjab.