Shiva beyond borders: How a viral Persian bhajan reveals enduring India-Iran civilisational connect

The current geopolitical tensions in West Asia suggest a diplomatic breakdown of all sorts, implying an inevitable return to conflict, strategy, and power. But, in India, we see another trend simmering up along the sidelines of war, where social media is flooded with praise for a devotional song to Lord Shiva, or 'Persian Shiva Bhajan', as it is being called.

The soft, melodic Persian vocals of an Iranian girl praising Shiva, with visuals depicting historical links between India and Iran, elicit a sense of cultural intimacy that seemingly defies the logic of contemporary geopolitics. The song is not just another social media trend; it resonates deeply with the cultural connections between India and Iran that interestingly surface amid the geopolitical turbulence.

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India has shown strategic restraint and sensible statecraft to protect its geopolitical, economic, and cultural relations with Iran. When globally the debates around international morality, war anxiety, and fragile supply chains intensify, this renewed interest and resurfacing of the India–Iran cultural ties force us to reconsider our understanding of international relations. International relations are not merely the state-centric theatre of events but the product of continuous interaction between society, history, and civilisations. International relations are characterised by state identities in flux.

The traditional spectrum of theories offers a very limited framework to address the changing world order. On one hand, realism ties countries in a strictly transactional relationship, putting energy security, regional alignments, and shifting geopolitical aspirations at the centre of international relations. On the other hand, the liberal approach does consider cooperation, interdependence, and people-to-people ties as the crux of international relations. But in both frameworks, culture, arts, or shared heritage are secondary or peripheral.

In such a scenario, the revival of historical and cultural linkages between India and Iran, especially the viral Iranian Shiva song, is not merely a byproduct of technological outreach and globalisation. This phenomenon brings to light the often overlooked constructivist school of thought. Constructivism posits that international relations are guided by ideas, identities, and shared meanings.

States are more than self-interests; they act on perceptions, both about themselves and others. These perceptions are shaped by history and culture. The Persian Shiva song represents the formation of transnational “imagined communities", where cultural symbols connect the strangers, sometimes even without meeting each other in person. The song reflects a sense of civilisational connection between the two countries.

For centuries, both countries have been connected through language, literature, trade, and knowledge, symbolising the exchange of philosophical, administrative, and artistic traditions across the networks. The imprints of the Persian language are clearly visible in India’s literature, governance, and intellectual traditions. The connections extend into religious and intellectual domains as well; the supreme leader’s lineage is traced back to India, pointing to a deep and layered mobility within the Indo-Persian world. But with changed geopolitical landscapes over the years, the cultural memories might have faded, but not completely disappeared.

Even today, the two countries remain strategically and politically connected through initiatives such as the Chabahar Port and long-standing educational exchanges. Rather, the surfacing of the viral Persian Shiva song reminds us that historical and cultural memories remain, and they shape the perception of the countries towards each other, surprising us in unimaginable ways. This development becomes particularly significant in the context of India’s carefully calibrated foreign policy stance, particularly towards Iran.

In the present geopolitical context, the cultural expressions suggest continuity of deeper conversations that transcend the geographical and political boundaries. The continuity of cultural ideas and perceptions subtly opposes the geopolitical emphasis on sanctions, alignments, and conflict. The coexistence of contradictions in geopolitics is a reminder of the fact that international relations operate at multiple levels of hardcore strategy, emotions, and shared memories.

The digital age has transformed the landscape of cultural exchanges, as they are no longer flowing out of strict state apparatuses alone but are also dispersed through networks of individuals across digital platforms. The viral Persian Shiva bhajan and the overwhelming responses it garnered in India stand as proof of how ordinary people contribute to shaping global perceptions. The overwhelmingly positive and emotional response of Indians to an Iranian artist singing a Shiva bhajan is a contribution to a shared narrative rather than a formal diplomatic practice. This shared narrative is a "recognisable other” rather than being entirely foreign. The subtle, shared narratives of history and culture simultaneously compete with the loud political rhetoric of rupture.

All said and done, this viewpoint does not imply that culture can override conflict. Unfortunately, so, but no glorious heritage or historical narratives can end the war or put aside any strategic rivalries. However, this perspective does give us a new lens to view global politics, which is overridden by the burden of sheer hardcore power. Power matters, but so do the memories and perceptions that societies share and pass on to future generations.

Contemporary foreign policy thinking has merged both the "hard" world of strategy and the “soft” realm of culture. The former is consequential and an end in itself, and the latter is simply a means to achieve the former; it is more symbolic and peripheral in the scheme of things. Nevertheless, the India–Iran example shows that cultural connections can endure and nurture relations during strained global events.

Maybe from the backstage, but the music, language, and shared traditions are emblematic of engagement at a more human level. These interactions embody the deeper currents of global politics, which are not reflected in the governments' treaties and summits.

Culture does not merely serve an ornamental purpose, but it is part of the foundation on which international relations are built, and the Shiva song is a small but telling example of this living truth. When war threatens boundaries and identities, such moments offer a different perspective, reassurance, and connectivity that cannot be taken down by any number of missiles or ground troops.

(Ila Joshi is Assistant Professor, Jaypee Institute of Information Technology, Noida. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.)