A rich tapestry of numerous cultural practices associated with various religions and sects that are peculiar to the Indian subcontinent presents researchers with a unique opportunity to study the interplay of sacred and secular in modern religious art forms and ritualistic performances . This report will focus on practices of performing and listening to qawwali in Northern India and the ways the community of qawwals (qawwali performers) deals with the challenges of modernity.
Originally performed in Sufi shrines or tombs throughout South Asia, the qawwali genre gained widespread popularity and an international audience in the late 20th century. The ritual-associated performative artform of qawwali is known to exist on the subcontinent since the 13th century and is associated with the name of Amir Khusrao (1253–1325 AD). Traditional qawwalis are still performed in sufi tombs (dargahs) across India and Pakistan with the original line of qawwals residing in the heart of the old Delhi - the tomb of Nizamuddin Auliya. At the same time, in the modern music scene, qawwali is widely known as one of a flagman genre of so-called 'Muslim spiritual music' or ‘Sufi music’ and is a go-to genre for the Bollywood film-makers, pop artists and cultural festivals organisers. The rapid social changes and technological development of mass media that took place at that time significantly changed consumption patterns, including in the religious sphere. The use of a new generation of media, allowing for diversity in both production and consumption, has become a factor that has not weakened the aura of sacredness of certain religious practices, but also contributed to their strengthening and popularisation. At the present moment, ritual and so-called secularised qawwali coexist throughout the land of South Asia and in its media, putting the community of qawwals on the edge of tradition meeting modernity.
