Sacred Amritsar cultural fest ends with folk tribute to Begum Akhtar

The third edition of cultural fest, ‘The Sacred Amritsar’, concluded on Sunday evening at Qila Gobindgarh with unforgettable performances by Malini Awasthi, the folk queen of India and Indie-folk fusion band Kabir Café by Neeraj Arya.

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The evening began with author-filmographer Yatinder Mishra and Malini Awasthi’s folk tribute “Daastan-e-Akhtari”, an ode to thumri legend Begum Akhtar. Awasthi’s performance was also an education in the folk genres of Hindustani classical music as she talked about Begum Akhtar’s works and her own variations over the years in a combination of music and storytelling. Arya’s Kabir Cafe, a neo-folk fusion band brought the timeless poetry of the 15th century poet and mystic to life, blending rock, reggae, pop and Carnatic influences. An interplay of vocals, sitar and tabla by Debapriya Adhikari, Samanvya Sarkar and Sohan Ghosh started the morning concert on the concluding day.

Later, a thought-provoking discussion was hosted at the Partition Museum with Sanjoy K Roy and author and historian Aanchal Malhotra talking about Aanchal Malhotra’s body of work, including her latest book, In the Language of Remembering: The Inheritance of Partition, and discussing the ‘Legacy of Partition’.

Their conversation weaved together personal narratives and historical accounts, offering insightful thoughts on the lasting effects of Partition. On Saturday evening, Padma Shree awardee Anwar Khan Manganiyar along with his group performed the Rajasthani Manganiyar folk.

Celebrated for his mastery in folk and Sufi genres, Manganiyar has performed with maestros including Ustad Zakir Hussain, charming the audience with rustic folk from the land of dunes, peaking with a kamaicha (traditional folk instrument) performance. Abhijit Pohankar’s “The Hazrat Amir Khusro Project” presented Khusro’s timeless compositions to the audience in their unique fusion of ragas and instruments. Khusro’s “Sakal Ban Phool Rahi Sarson”, most recently brought to spotlight by Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s “Heeramandi”, was performed with precision and magic.

Dedicated to the historically significant compositions of the Indo-Persian Sufi singer, poet and scholar Pohankar and his band of artists, all of whom come from a lineage, including Amit Mishra, grandson of Pandit Santa Prasad of Benaras gharana, they have been performing these compositions to contemporary musical arrangements. They concluded on the popular and familiar rendition of Raag Yaman.