The evening was high on energy as people from all over the City came together for the fifth consecutive edition of the Sufi and Mystic music festival Ruhaniyat.
A confluence of ecstatic performers, the festival brought alive the works of Sufi saints and mystics from India as well as Egypt.
While the audience comprised an informal gathering of like-minded people, the concert spoke of unconditional love, unity with the divine and the blissful path of spirit.
The programme started with the Sufiana Kalam by Barkat Siddhu from Punjab. His voice was mesmerising as he sang songs written by Pakistani Punjabi Sufi poets Bulleh Shah, Shah Latif and Shah Hussain.
The first song was about going with one’s beloved while the next one was called Dekho ki kar gaya mahi.
On the cold night, the voice of Barkat Siddhu echoed through the open ground and everyone sat soaking in the beauty of the music.
The music spoke about the secrets of blissful existence amidst all kinds of turmoil.
After him came the Arabic Sufi group from Egypt which had singer Sheikh Abdel Hamid Alsharif and Mohamad Farghaly on the oud.
They played three different compositions which flowed into each other without a break. They started out with an ode to God, after which they sang Kaseeda in Rast Raga written by Abdul Rahim Bolai. This was followed by Bashail Bashail which echoed the message of happiness.
While one could not understand the lyrics, the soul of the music touched everyone present. By the end of the performance, one had the feeling of being transported to Egypt.
Parvathy Baul, a Baul artiste from West Bengal, presented her performance next.
Playing with just an ektara and a pair of drums, she was a force to be reckoned with on stage.
The song was about the process of birth and how while coming out on earth, the soul promises to remember God everyday but forgets the promise due to the pain of birth. The other singers for the evening were Kachra Khan from Rajasthan and Hifzurrehman Hakimi from Kota. But the highlight of the evening were the two Tannoura dancers, also known as Whirling Dervishes, who presented a brilliant performance. Dressed in long vividly coloured clothes, they swirled around while connecting with the divine.
Each performance ended with a thundering applause and the evening will surely be remembered for a long time.