The core of this spiritual order are Sunni Muslims but it includes Shias too. Sufi saints have made immense contributions to literature, poetry and music, and have often had to face the ire of the ...

Like Sufism was a form of protest against the ... during the Chola period under the inspiration of the Nayanars. Bhakti saints won the affection of peasants so the kings tried to win their support ...

They have consequently sought refuge in the mystical Bhakti (devotional) and Sufi poetry as a counterforce to religious hatred. Generally, the police response to religious hatred has been abysmal ...