Restoring Mosques, Preserving History

Datos Bibliográficos

ID7472484
AutoresHarini Kumar (0000-0003-2302-5828, autor de correspondencia)
Año2026
Volumen46
Número1
Páginas13-27
Fecha de publicación2026-01-14
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaComparative Studies of South Asia Africa and the Middle East (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1089-201X • E-ISSN: 1548-226X
EditorialDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1215/1089201x-12354737
OpenAlexW7124131561
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas1
Referencias citadas24

This article focuses on mosques on the southeastern coast of India that are built in a distinctive style and rooted in local architectural idioms. Such mosques are an integral part of the Tamil sacred landscape, indexing the region's long-standing Muslim presence as well as histories of maritime trade and mobility. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in preserving the cultural heritage of coastal Tamil Muslims among members of the community. At the same time, the Islamic built environment in India is under tremendous strain. Mosques, especially, are disparaged as “ocular reminders” of India's Muslim past. In this context, how can we understand the range of significations that such sites have for Muslims in everyday life? This article explores the sensory life around Tamil mosques and how such sites are reimagined as spaces of heritage, historical consciousness, and cultural value. The article argues that the material and aesthetic practices in and around mosques are crucial to understanding how a community constructs its past and thereby its modalities of belonging in the present. In doing so, the article highlights the various textures of everyday life of a community that has been understudied in scholarship on Islam in South Asia

Everyday life · Islam · Modalities · Muslim community · Scholarship · Style (visual arts · Tamil · Architecture and Cultural Influences · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Religious Tourism and Spaces

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