Jaipur spends a lyrical evening with sufi music, poetry and dance

Raqs-e-Bismil painted the Pink City with mystical hues of classical dance, ghazals and sitar renditions, as the audience sat back and enjoyed the melodious gala evening.

Music lovers in Jaipur enjoyed a melodious evening at the Raqs-e-Bismil concert, organised by

Rajasthan Urdu Akademi

at Ravindra Manch. Conceptualised by Muzaffar Ali, a filmmaker, designer, artist and social activist, the concert was a blend of Indian classical and Sufi music. The event began with a jugalbandi of Irani artist Fakhruddin Gaffari and Mukesh Sharma.

Mukesh Sharma, Murad Ali and Fakhruddin Gaffari entertaining the audience with their performance

Gaffari played instruments like darbuka and tompak. Next up, Jaipurites were enthralled by a fusion Kathak performance by Ashtha Dixit. Presenting the Lucknow and Jaipur schools of kathak, she performed to the ghazals of

Faiz Ahmad Faiz

. This was followed by a soothing poetry session by Murad Ali. After every recital, the hall reverberated with applause.

Muzaffar Ali and Meera Ali

Present at the evening were Rajasthan

Lalit Kala Akademi

’s President Ashwin Dalvi, Meera Ali and Muzaffar Ali. “It is always a special experience to perform in Jaipur. Earlier we had come up with Sufi fest Jahaan-e-Khusrau and brought eminent artists in the vent Now, Raqs-e-Bismil is a new opportunity for us to connect with Jaipur audience. Jaipurites have a penchant for art and music,” said Muzaffar Ali.

Moazzam Ali, the Secretary of Rajasthan Urdu Akademi, said, “The event was an amalgamation of poetry, ghazals, instrumental music and dance, leading to an experience we call ‘ruhaaniyat.’ Our aim was to entertain the audience in Jaipur through this event, who love Sufi music and Urdu shaayari.”

Picture credit: Pankaj Sharma/BCCL