The ongoing Swaralaya Soorya Dance and Music Festival witnessed an effusion of Sufi music in pure Qawwali form at Rapadi open air auditorium here on Friday evening.
Sufi musicians Ashraf Hydroz and Athar Husain Khan took the crowds back to the mysticism and purity of Sufi music. “Even when making experiments, we never renounce the purity and originality of Sufi music,” said Hydroz during an interaction with the media earlier in the day.
Paying tributes to Amir Khusrau, widely regarded as the father of Sufi Qawwali music, Hydroz and Khan rendered Chaap tilak sab cheeni in a nostalgic style.
“The essence of Sufi Qawwalis is nothing but pure love of humankind. It was this boundless Ishq that drove Sufi saints to rise to higher levels of sublime divinity centuries ago,” said Hydroz.
He said Qawwali music did not have to do anything with a particular religion, though it was propagated by Islamic saints and their followers. “It’s limitless and pure love of humanity… and that comes out in the form of pure music,” he said.
They sang Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan’s Halka halka suroor and Tumhe dil lagi bhool jani padegi to good applause from the audience. Dama dam mast Qalandar, a hugely popular spiritual Qawwali penned in honour of Sufi saint Lal Shabaz Qalandar of Sindh, took the crowds to an ecstatic level.
Shaheen P. Nazar supported on tabla, Kabeer Abdul Rahman on harmonium, Muhassin Ahmed on banjo, and Azeez Kalamassery on octapad.
Violinists Lalitha and Nandini presented a duet performance before the Sufi Qawwali session.
Danseuse Divya Warrier from the U.S., mesmerised the crowds with her hour-long Mohiniyattam solo. She performed the Gandhari Vilapam part blindfolded, giving a cliffhanger experience for the crowds.
“Our stage is quite big. So, there are no worries about Ms. Warrier falling off it in her blindfolded dance attempt,” said T.R. Ajayan, Swaralaya secretary.
Ms. Warrier, during her interaction with the media, said that efforts should be made to attract the new generation to Mohiniyattam. People from different nations are learning Mohiniyattam under her in the U.S.
Renowned Kuchipudi dancer Vaijayanti Kashi and team will perform on Saturday night.
