A Sidi dance troupe from Ahmedabad performing the dhamal for a cultural festival in Gujarat

The three-legged drum that is played during the ritual ceremonies at the Bava Gor chilla at Patharkua, Ahmedabad

Sidis use instruments such as coconut rattles while performing rituals at the shrines of Bava Gor

A sidi woman tying a saree before the textile is dyed. Sidi women in Jamnagar are skilled at the craft of tie dying.

The intricately carved window panels as seen from the back of the mosque.

The window panel with latticework at the Sidi Sayed mosque. At the center of the panel is the intricately carved tree of life.

The intricately carved window panels at the back of the mosque

The intricate carving on the surviving pillars of the Sidi Bashir mosque.

Details of relief panels from the minarets of the mosque.

The intricately carved stone relief work from the standing minarets of the mosque demonstrates the artistic traditions on the Gujarat Sultanate.

The Sarkhej Roza is an architectural complex with tombs, mausoleums, and mosques and represents the architectural and spiritual traditions of the Gujarat Sultanate.

An elderly sidi quilter sorting out pieces of textiles for making a new quilt.

Colorful handmade quilts dried in the sun at the sidi village of Javantri in Gujarat. Sidi women make colorful quilts out of old cloth and textile waste.

The sidi women of Jamnagar are skilled in the arts of tie-dye and most of them work in the local tie-dye industry of Jamnagar

Performance stage adjacent to the Khapri temple in Karwar where folk dances and theaters are performed during annual temple festival

Decorated idol of the African deity for the special puja on Sunday evening.

Devotees lighting candles and incense sticks in front of the Khapri temple. On Sunday evenings there are special pujas for the deity.

A small Kappiri shrine at a scared grove in the house of a local medicine man at Corgoa in Goa

Jambur village consists of only Sidi families and most of the Sidi men from the village work in the neighboring town of Talala.

The Sidis of Jambur village in Gujarat are poor and most of the families cannot afford to send their children to schools.

Women members of the sidi community organization talking with the local women of the Chhachhar village.

The sidi community organization Samasta Sidi Aadijati Samaj Utkarsh Samiti that works for the welfare of sidi people organizes monthly meetings in different sidi villages to raise social awareness.

Sidi men in front of the modest shrine dedicated to the Hindu deity Hanuman. While the sidi residents of the Shirvan village are Muslims, some of them also worship the god Hanuman.

Members of the Sidi community in Talala, Gujarat have been trying to address the problems faced by the sidi residents living in interior Gujarat.

Pathway leading to a sidi village in interior Karnataka

Local Sidi men in front of a motorbike repair shop in Jamnagar.

An old wooden storage trunk used by the family to keep good clothes and other valuables. Seen here is also racks with stainless steel utensils, which are treasured possessions of this family in Sirvan Village, Gujrat.

Sidi men as well as Sidi women serve as caretakers of the memorial shrines dedicated Bava Gor and his siblings

Most of the Sidi homes in the interior of Gujarat are modest mud plastered homes with a multi-purpose interior space that function as a kitchen and sleeping area. The veranda serves as the living and entertainment room of the house.

Majority of the Sidis living in the villages of Gujarat are extremely poor and often cannot offered to construct proper homes nor repair their existing homes. Most of these homes do not have proper doors and the villagers often repurpose found materials to seal their entrances and roofs.

The space in front of the modest Sidi homes serve as social space where the family meets and greets friends and where the children play

Seen here is a typical Sidi village with small mud houses. Domestic animals and cattle are kept in the small empty grounds in front of their homes.

A shrine dedicated to Mai Misra in Jambur inside the Sidi scared complex with the central shrine dedicated to Nagarchi Bava, another prominent Sidi saint.

The shrine for Mai Misra is located behind the central shrine dedicated to Bava Gor, her brother at Ratanpur

Seen in center is the shrine dedicated to Bava Gor and behind the main shrine are small chillas dedicated to Bava Habash and Mai Misra.

A Hindu mendicant who serves as the caretaker of the memorial shrine dedicated to Bava Gor in the Chhachhar village, Gujarat.

A sidi women offering prayers in front of the shrine dedicated to Mai Mishra in the sidi village of Shirvan inside the Gir Forest National Park.

Ghafarbhai Mori the caretaker of the Bava Gor memorial shrine at Javantri Village. The modest shrine is located at his home.

The small memorial shrine dedicated to Bava Gor and Mai Misra in the village of Javantri in Talala taluk, Gir-Somnath district of Gujarat.

Sidi men gathered outside the memorial shrine dedicated to Bava Gor and Bava Habash in Jambur village.

The chilla dedicated to the patron Siddi Sufi saint Bava Gor in Kurla, Mumbai was built and is being maintained by the local Parsi community.

Brightly colored decorative tiles adorning the external walls of the Bava Gor Shrine, which is an important site of worship.