ABSTRACT
This book discusses the role of popular Islam in structuring individual and collective identities in contemporary South Asia. We are aware of the difficulties arisen by the use of words such as ‘popular’ 1 , and even ‘devotional’, the one we have chosen for the main title. Although the approach is multidisciplinary, anthropology frames most of the papers. In this field, the building of the object under study results from observation. The main behavior observed by the contributors was related to devotion. From Latin, devotion interestingly refers to the vow, the promise made by a believer to God. Such practices of making vows are still a basic ritual in the shrines in South Asia. It implies that devotion plays a leading role in framing the religiosity and piety of such places.
