The month of November has become synonymous for the opening of Banyan Tree’s annual Sufi & Mystic music festival Ruhaniyat. Conceived and directed by Mahesh Babu, it is the only national festival of its kind and is best described as the call of the soul, enlivening centuries of spiritual wisdom. The immortal works of great mystics are brought to life by mostly unheard of but immensely talented carriers of living traditions from remote parts of the country. Now for the 12th consecutive year the seekers of joy, spiritual wisdom, enchanting music and unheard of living traditions will be delighted to assemble yet again for Ruhaniyat.
So, what is special about Ruhaniyat 2012-13? The highlight this year is the fact that the festival is traveling to two more cities i.e. Raipur and Ahmedabad which makes it a 9 city festival covering Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune and Bengaluru along with the to new additions of Ahmedabad and Raipur.
With each passing year our Ruhaniyat family is expanding. We are reaching out to farther corners of India, discovering hidden talents and bringing them on the ‘Ruhaniyat Platform’ and, also bringing in our fold new audiences. In the process Ruhaniyat is also nurturing most enchanting but neglected, near extinct forms.
The caravan of Ruhaniyat has set out yet again, join us and share our joy… let us create and spread an ambience of unconditional love and dive deep in the ever still pool of bliss.
As always Ruhaniyat will be presented between November 2012 and February 2013. Across the nine cities along with absolutely brilliant bouquet of Indian forms will be mesmerizing performances by artists from other countries like Tannouras, the Dancing Dervishes of Egypt, Polyphony with an inbuilt ‘Voice of Angels’ by singers from Bulgaria, a never-before Instrumental Ensemble of Sufiana Maqams by musicians of Egypt and Rajasthan, Whirling Dervishes of Turkey and power packed Sufi Qawwali by qawwals from Pakistan.
The Indian forms to be featured this year are:
Bharud & Abhang of Tukaram, Dnyaneshwar, Jana Bai, Bahina Bai- Maharashtra
Sukhnani Ojhapalli the 900 year old unbroken Oral living tradition with unique Mudras, melody and rhythmic patterns- Assam
Kapalik Pandvani dramatic narration of mystic tales from Mahabharata- Chhattisgarh
Mystic Ravanhatta Ensemble with songs from the Pabuji ki Par -Rajasthan
Haunting drums - Eddaka, Thimila, Chenda, Thavil, Mizhavu- Kerala
Sindhi Saraiki - Gujarat
Zikr-e- Rifay by Fakirs -Andhra Pradesh
Baul songs from West Bengal
Shabad & Sufi Kalams - Punjab
Sufi Kalam & Mystic compositions of Bulleshah, Shah Latif -Rajasthan
Sufi Qawwali by best of qawwals from Nizamuddin Dargah, as well as other parts of the country like Ajmer, Jaipur & Hyderabad.
Guest artists from other countries
Vaya Quartet – Polyphony songs (Bulgaria)
Whirling Dervishes – Sema (Turkey)
Tannoura – Dancing Dervishes (Egypt)
Sufiana Maquam Ensemble (Egypt)
Farid Ayaz & Group (Pakistan)
Mystic Ensemble- Harp & others – (Netherlands)
About Banyan Tree
Brainchild of the founder and managing director Mahesh Babu, Banyan Tree changed the manner in which performing arts were generally presented and perceived. The first event management company of its kind, Banyan Tree is known for conceiving and producing world class events of performing arts across India and beyond. The only company with such a wide spectrum of genres, it excels in bringing alive not just Indian classical music and dance by great maestros but also the best of folk music and dance from remote parts of the country, Sufi and mystic music (the genre where it is the pioneer), ghazals, devotional evenings, theatre, dance-dramas, multi-media productions, dance ballets, innovative fusion concerts and collaborative ensembles of world music. Creating designer events for the specific needs of the corporate world and unique festivals at the heritage sits is yet another specialty of the company. Apart from creating awareness of the performing arts, it has also been a significant catalyst in providing a new lease of life for some near extinct forms.
To present Ruhaniyat beyond Indian Shores
We are open to presenting this festival anywhere in the world to spread the message of Universal Brotherhood, Unconditional Love, Total Surrender of Ego and, Peace.
For more details and queries mail us at:
info@ruhaniyat.com
banyantree@vsnl.net
For artists who wish to participate in Ruhaniyat anywhere in India
Carriers of various Sufi and Mystic traditions from around d the world who would like to participate in Ruhaniyat can send their DVDs/Audio CDs to Banyan Tree Events.
Or mail their links at info@ruhaniyat.com or banyantree@vsnl.net
