Music from Rajasthan lights up Chowmahalla

The majestic

Chowmahalla Palace

resonated with Rajasthani folk and Sufi music on Sunday as a group of Manganiyar and Merasi musicians performed here on the last day of the World Heritage Day celebrations.
Clad in their colourful traditional attire along with yellow and red pagadis, the five-member Manganiyar troupe led by singers

Bottey Khan

and Salim Khan enchanted music lovers with an array of Rajasthani folk, sufi and Bollywood songs. Accompanied by

Elias Khan

on dholak,

Bindu Khan

on sarangi and

Gope Khan

shouldering the khartal duties, their recital kicked off with one of the most well-known Rajasthani traditional songs Kesariya Balam. Sung with passion and verve, the power-packed performance set the tone for the rest of the evening and was aptly followed by folk numbers such as Lumba, Lumba and the timeless qawwali Dama Dam Mast Qalandar.
If

Manganiyars

offered a Rajasthani platter of traditional songs, the Merasi singers delved into both Sufi and Bollywood adaptations of popular Rajasthani folk songs such as Piya Haji Ali and Nimbooda Nimbooda. Particularly, it was team’s rendition of Nimbooda Nimbooda sung in its colloquial Rajasthani avatar brought the audience to their feet. The team swiftly followed it up with some Bollywood hits such as Chudiyan Chanak Gayi and Gore Gore and brought the curtains down to the concert with an emotional rendition of Baisara Beera. Their musical endeavours were well received by the audience, who gave them a standing ovation bringing the three-day cultural
fiesta to an end.