In the northern regions of India, the rising popularity of alternative religious sects, prominently Deras, has sparked much interest in explaining this phenomenon. Current literature, based on case studies of specific Dalit Deras, relates the emergence of these religious sects to caste-based social discrimination and exclusion of lower castes by the mainstream Sikh religion. This article presents a case study of a small town, Patran, in the state of Punjab. Confirming the popularity of these alternative religious sects for upper and lower castes in the town, the article argues that the contemporary attractiveness of Deras needs to be understood also as a result of localised agrarian dynamics and related social pressures engendered by the process of rural to urban and agrarian to non-agrarian transition.

中文翻译：

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超越种姓的德拉斯：发展压力的补救措施

在印度北部地区，另类宗教教派的日益流行，尤其是德拉斯教派，引发了人们对解释这一现象的极大兴趣。当前文献基于特定达利特德拉斯的案例研究，将这些宗教教派的出现与基于种姓的社会歧视和主流锡克教对低种姓的排斥联系起来。本文介绍了旁遮普邦帕特兰小镇的案例研究。文章证实了这些替代宗教教派在该镇的上层和下层种姓的流行，认为 Deras 的当代吸引力也需要理解为本地化的农业动态和农村到城市过程中产生的相关社会压力的结果。以及从农业到非农业的过渡。