The Muharram Procession of Mumbai
The Muharram Procession of Mumbai
From Seafront to Cemetery
This chapter examines the Muharram procession of Mumbai as part of the process of urbanization that transformed Mumbai into a cosmopolitan city. Over the last two centuries, the Muharram ritual has been constantly changed and reinvented in Mumbai. The ritual, as practiced today, is constituted through an intensive interaction and tension between diverse social and religious groups that have come to Mumbai. The main procession was directed toward seafronts in the eighteenth century, but now goes toward Rahmetabad Cemetery in Mazgan. This chapter considers how religious diversity among urban communities in Mumbai contributed to the Muharram ritual and its changes, giving rise to a complex social organization that cannot be simplified based on Muslim-Hindu or Shi'a-Sunni divisions.
Keywords: urbanization, Muharram procession, Mumbai, cosmopolitan city, ritual, religious groups, seafronts, Rahmetabad Cemetery, religious diversity, social organization
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