New Delhi: The noted Indian filmmaker, poet and social worker, Muzaffar Ali, had in 2001 initiated the revival of Sufi music with a festival Jahan-e-Khusrau. The annual three-day Sufi music festival takes place in New Delhi to commemorate the death anniversary of Hazrat Amir Khusrau.
Khusrau is regarded as the “father of qawwali”, who also introduced the ghazal style of a song in India. He was an expert in many styles of Persian poetry which were developed in medieval Persia, from Khāqānī’s qasidas to Nizami’s Khamsa. Khusrau wrote in many verse forms including Ghazal, Masnavi, Qata, Rubai, Do-Baiti and Tarkib-band.
The Rumi Foundation’s Flagship Cultural event has acquired a good number of fanbase among the Delhiites. Ali says, “Jahan-e-Khusrau has grown over the years, and each year we learn from the audience. Over the years more and more young people have been pulled into the realms of the ecstasy of the Sufi poetry has held in it fold for centuries.”
In the upcoming years, Ali hopes to reinvent the festival. Jahan-e-Khusrau this year is being held in Arab ki Sarai, Humayun Tombs Complex till March 11.
