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The shrine of Khan Jahan Ali at Bagerhat, Kulna, southwestern Bangladesh

Religious Pluralism, Shared Sacred Sites in the Indian Subcontinent and the Balkans

Ethnographic fieldwork in Bangladesh, June 2019 | Outcome: 3 conference papers and 1 peer-reviewed book chapter [forthcoming]

In formerly Hindu-majority districts in Bangladesh, such as Khulna, Hindu and Muslim ritual practices continue to be carried out side by side. The time-honored South Asian tradition of intermingling between religious communities can be observed at the shrine of the Muslim saint Khan Jahan Ali in Bagerhat near the city of Kulna in southwestern Bangladesh. Every day locals and pilgrims of both faiths queue up to seek blessings from the crocodiles in the pond of the shrine of Khan Jahan Ali where the reptiles are venerated and fed by hand.