Saturday, February 9, 2013

Sufi music festival, Kolkata, February 2013

December, January, and February are the most happening months in Kolkata. The city is on a high, with music festivals, book fair, and a whole lot of other activities. After all, at Kolkata we only get to enjoy three months of winter and that is when the weather is at its best behaviour. Come summer almost everything wilts under the heat and humidity, and the city pretty much reaches its lowest low as far as festivals and fairs are concerned...I don't want to think of summers just now; even though winter is almost gone, I am still hanging on to it. I wish winter would stretch for six months at least.

Kolkata and music go hand in hand. I think a huge percentage of Kolkatans enjoy good music. I wonder why we don't have more bands playing in Kolkata.

Just like Baul music there is something deeply spiritual about Sufi music. A group of performers,who performed at the festival, are known as Manganiyars, and they are from Rajasthan. Some of the top Sufi performers performed at this festival.

The Dervishes who whirl round and round almost in a meditative trance, the spiritually uplifting music, combined with other folk songs, are indeed a treat for any music lover.

I fell in love with the song “Khwaja mere Khwaja” of Jodhaa Akbar. It does have Sufi influence and is such a wonderful song. I started exploring and getting to know about Sufi music after that.Thanks to A. R Rahman.

Here is a short video clip, taken by my husband, of one of the performances at the Sufi music festival.

 




2 comments:

Unknown said...

Sufi Music has certainly lost it's glamor compared to the last century...but yes glimpses of it still prevails through such engagements...!!!

Ranjana Jha said...

Thanks, @ Mukhtiar and Anjan.
Yes, and I wish we have more of such events!