MUSICIANS AT THE DOORS OF SHRINES IN MULTAN

Abstract

The research was conducted under the title "Musicians at the doors of Shrines in Multan”. This study is descriptive which describes in detail the life of Qawwals at Shrines in Multan, Pakistan. This study has three main objectives which are to explain about the life world of Qawwals, the literature presented by Qawwal at shrines including regular presentation as well as Urs. The research also tries to explore the knowledge of Sur and Saz that they have learnt from their ancestors. Furthermore, the message of qawwali, types of qawwali, instruments of qawwali and what is sama' and its importance. It describes the Qawwali's expectations about the future of Qawwali. Sampling techniques used in this research include purposive snowball sampling. An in-depth interview method has been conducted. A semi-structured interview guide is used. This study has been conducted on eleven Qawwals from various shrines in Multan including shrines of Bahauddin Zakriya, Musa Pak Shaheed, Shahshams Tabraiz Sabzwari and Hafiz Jamal. The researcher analyzed the data using thematic analysis method. Researcher's analysis is that gharana is very important for Qawwal. There is no better Qawwal without gharana. And everything including the message, instruments, literature, lifeworld collection, and distribution of Qawals depends on their gharana. Qawwali was a ritual and purely related to the religion of Islam. The researcher has also discussed here the change that has come in today's qawwali due to modernization or globalization and how it has affected Qawwals performing at shrines. So now the basic Islamic essence of Qawwali has been changed. Now Qawwali has been divided into different types so its message has also changed. Qawwals earn only from Qawwali, they have no other alternative to earn. Qawwali is often performed at shrines now. Now the only goal of Qawwali is earning. Keywords: Qawwals, gharana, types of qawwal, qawwali, literature, instruments, Urs