ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the complex Sufi networks that emerged in Sarandib (Sri Lanka), and its continued contemporary legacies, as connections that fluctuate between violence and piety. The first half of my discussion maps three major nodes in the broader pilgrimage routes of Sri Lanka, namely Adam’s Peak, Dafther Jailani, and Kataragama. Through the use of oral traditions associated with these spaces, I focus on their negotiated positions vis-à-vis other religious groups, and on the central figures of Sufi devotionalism across Sri Lanka. The second half shifts to two examples of regionalized shrines, specifically those of Payvilan in Kattankutty (in the eastern province of Batticaloa) and Hussein Bee Bee in Slave Island (located in the capital city of Colombo). By shifting my attention away from popular Sufi pilgrimage sites to local spaces, I capture the oscillating tensions between violence and piety that Sufi shrines in Sri Lanka are embedded within, and the intricate ways these tensions unfold throughout the contemporary landscape. Additionally, the case of the shrine of Hussein Bee Bee allows for a reflection on gender, and the role of women Sufi saints and devotees.
