The Lamp in the Niche

"The Lamp in the Niche" is a 2-part documentary on Sufism and the Bhakti movement i India. It traces the origins and development of Sufism and its intimate and intricate relationship with and influence on Bhakti. Sufism came to India through the Northwest corner, soon after its emergence in Arabia in the 7th century. From the very beginning, it was a radical movement which rejected all mediation between man and God by other agencies, such as the priesthood, rituals or places of worship. God was directly accessible to every human being, regardless of sex, class, caste or religion. You only had to surrender yourself totally to His mercy and His grace would descend on you. But you needed to prepare yourself to receive Him. The Sufi pir selected a village or town to settle in, and then for the rest of his life, catered to the spiritual, social and emotional needs of the local population. This often made him a venerated and influential figure in the secular society, more powerful than the unstable mediaeval ruler, who both feared him and sought his support.