Get a feel of the divine at a two-day Sufi music festival, where the sitar flows into the Morchang, mystic poetry is set to tune, and musicians sing from the soul
Get a feel of the divine at a two-day Sufi music festival, where the sitar flows into the Morchang, mystic poetry is set to tune, and musicians sing from the soul
Shujaat Husain Khan, son and disciple of master sitarist Ustad Vilayat Khan will break new ground today at the Tata Theatre stage. The eminent sitarist and heir to the rich legacy of Etawah-Imadadkhani gharana will treat the ghazal as a form of Sufi expression.
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The classically trained sitarist is in Mumbai as part of a bevy of Sufi musicians for Sama'a, a two-day Sufi music festival that kicks off today. Supported by artistic outfit Narotam Sekhsaria Foundation, the festival is the NCPA's go at bringing together people from Sufi and non-Sufi backgrounds. Qawwals, for instance, often train in dargahs practically in the lap of renowned Sufi saints. So, has also been invited is a group that serves the Dargah Sharif (dedicated to Sufi saint Salim Chisthi) at Fatehpur Sikri.u00a0
"Our legacy goes back to the days of Emperor Akbar. Sufi music is not our profession; it's our way of becoming one with the creator," said Salim Mohammed Chishti via telephone from his hometown. His friends and family will join the singer for qawwali in Farsi and Hindi put to verses by Sufi saints Hazrat Amir Khusro and Bedam Shah Warsi.u00a0u00a0u00a0
Sama'a (Arabic for divine) refers to the practice of listening to music, chanting and whirling, finally culminating in spiritual ecstasy. Based on the mystical branch of Islam, Sufi music seeks to unite listeners with the Divine. The pain of separation from the Creator is at the core of Sufi lyrics and music, hence the longing to dissolve the physical realm and transcend into the spiritual Universe with Sama'a.u00a0
Langa and Manganiyar are hereditary caste musicians of western Rajasthan, who practice music as a profession besides being keepers of genealogy for Hindu as well as Muslim patrons.
A group of ten musicians will render popular poetic folktales like Laila-Majnoo, Heer-Ranjho, Sohni-Meher, Jasma-Oden and others, as composed by several Punjabi and Sindhi Sufi saints. On day two, watch out for Langa and Manganiyar, hereditary caste musicians from Rajasthan, who are unifying keepers of a genealogy for Hindu and Muslim patrons. They promise to charge the atmosphere with the soulful algoza, morchang and kamaicha, and the percussion of dholak and khadtal.u00a0
At: 6.30 pm onwards on December 10 and 11 at Tata Theatre, NCPA, Nariman Point. Call: 2282456. Daily tickets available at Rs 1,000, Rs 500, Rs 300, Rs 200 and Rs 100.
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