ABSTRACT
Recent decades have witnessed an unprecedented growth of various religious and pseudo-religious communities (deras 1 ) in the Indian state of Punjab and in adjacent areas. Multiple reasons for the flourishing of deras have been thoroughly analyzed by Surinder Jodhka (2008), Ashutosh Kumar (2014), Meeta and Rajivlochan (2007), Harish Puri (2003), Ronki Ram (2016a, 2012, 2008, 2007), Neeru Sharma (2012), Surinder Singh (2009) and other scholars. According to rough estimates (Ram, 2016b), there might be over 10,000 deras of different types in present-day Punjab, and almost 80 percent of the state’s population are affiliated with them (Dogra, 2007).
