Religious Syncretism in Kashmiri culture and Literature: A Critical Analysis of Hindu-Muslim Influences

Abstract

This research focuses on the issue of religious syncretism in the culture and literature of Kashmir with focus on Hindu and Muslim traditions. Using methods of historic, literary, and cultural approaches the study aims to understand in what ways these religious systems are intertwined to create the specific cultural setting of the South. Some of the important documents regarding syncretism are given by K. K. Aziz, M. A. Khan, S. N. Pandit, T. K. Sethi, Raghu Kant Gupta. From Aziz’s historical context, one can see the key encounters of Hindus and Muslims, and Khan’s work explores acculturation of Islam with Indic paganism. To elaborate this blending, Pandit and Sethi explain the cultural and literary subtleties and the shared history of KP and the merging of the two religious systems in the art and writing. While Gupta’s regional view on syncretism places KP in the South Asian perspective. Due to cross fertilization of cultures, religion and syncretism in the region, this research provides further insight into such aspects in the context of Kashmir.