I was a guest at the home of an old broke-down dervish in beautiful Sri Lanka, and almost every day he would say to me how he wished he could win the lottery.
Tag Archives: kataragama
Transnational Sufism and Islamic Change
Transnational Sufism and Islamic Change in Contemporary Sri Lanka by Dennis B. McGilvray In the context of spectacular Sinhalese and Tamil forms of religious austerity and mortifying vow-fulfillment — such as the hook-swinging, kavadi dancing, and firewalking so prominently displayed at Kataragama — the so-called “cutting and stabbing work” of the Bawas is the only […]