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Emotions At The Border: Verbal Aspects Of The Attari-Wagah Patriotic Pilgrimage, Anna V. Bochkovskaya

International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage

For over sixty years the Attari-Wagah checkpoint at the border between India and Pakistan has been a site for the Beating Retreat, a colorful ceremony of lowering the national flags performed jointly by the Indian Border Security Force and the Pakistan Rangers. This emotional ritual is generally perceived as a demonstration of aggressive designs, on the one hand, and as a symbol of goodwill and possible cooperation between neighbouring countries, on the other.

In recent decades visiting/viewing the border (sīmā darśan) has become an essential part of tourist packages for travellers in North-West India, while the notion of ‘patriotic pilgrimage’ …