ABSTRACT
The ta'zias are the most uniquely Indian innovations and probably the oldest objects of Indian Muslim visual culture that are still prepared and paraded during '-üshura, the first 10 days of the month of Muharram. In the past, ta'zia processions, accompanied by elephants and horses, comprised fakirs and traditional performers wearing grotesque disguises and dancing or acting in a funny manner. There is very little evidence of hand blocks being used to print text or images for display, the way it developed, say, in China or other Southeast Asian regions. A mention of Indian arts and crafts pertaining to faith cannot ignore the relationship between craftspersons and religious pluralism, especially that brought about by the Sufi and Bhakti movements of mediaeval India. Mystics felt pride in doing the lowliest of jobs, and in fact used their craft, art and literature to often express their dissent against the ruling class of their times.
