“Music is in our blood and we sing tunes of the soil for the almighty,” said Anwar Khan Manganiyar as he made the audience swoon to a traditional composition in raga Khamaj. With the waxing moon playing hide and seek on the ramparts of Mehrangarh Fort in Jodhpur, the Padma Shri took the discerning on a trip into the undulating dunes.
The 15th-century fort is back to its majestic best as Jodhpur RIFF (Rajasthan International Folk Festival) returned to the Blue City to wipe off the COVID blues, with the five-day festival of roots music.
A celebration of India’s musical heritage, the not-for-profit festival facilitates the continuing of the legacy of traditional music of Rajasthan “by training musicians, creating new sounds and developing artists and their repertoire through innovative collaborations and presentations,” said Divya Bhatia, Festival Director. During the pandemic, he said, the Mehrangarh Museum Trust helped in providing food, medical aid, and, in some cases, financial support to artists.
