Musical treat from Dilli Gharana

Dilliwalas were treated to some mesmerising classical music performances recently during the 21st Sangeet Martand Ustad Chand Khan Music Festival organised by the Sursagar Society of Delhi Gharana at Ghalib Institute, ITO. 

The event witnessed performances by stalwarts like sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, well known vocalists Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan and Khalifa of Dilli Gharana Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan, santoor maestro Pandit Bhajan Sopori, Amaan Ali Khan, Chhaya Ganguly, Malini Awasthi and Ustad Mehmood Mirza. 

Sursagar Society was founded in 1941 by the late Ustad Chand Khan (Sangeet Martand) in the memory of his father Shams-e-Mousiqui, Ustad Mamman Khan. 

The society aims to conserve and promote an awareness of both the rich and heterogeneous cultural tapestry through focus on the classical arts. 

Since 1986, the society has been honouring renowned artistes with Ustad Chand Khan awards for their contribution in the field of cultural arts. 

The list of recipients include Pt Dilip Chandra Vedi, Ustad Nisar Hussain Khan, Pt Siyaram Tiwari and many others.   

At the 21st edition of the festival held recently, the first day started with some beautiful compositions of Hazrat Amir Khusro sung by Sufis of Dilli - a sufi ensemble founded by Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan. 

This included the qaul by Dr Anees Ahmed Khan, rang by Danish Hilal Khan and some rare life-cycle compositions by Sufis of Dilli such as Banhda Geet, Jhula geet, sawan geet and Bidai. 

This was followed by a soulful ghazal recital by Chaya Ganguly and concluded with some beautiful thumri, dadra and kajri performance by Malini Awasthi. 

Day two started with lamp lighting by sarod maestro Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. 

His son and disciple Amaan Ali Khan performed raga Desh followed by a performance by Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan who started his performance with two soulful ragas – Lankeshwari and Raageshwari. 

The son and disciple of Ustad Chand Khan, Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan enchanted the audience with his creation - a new raga ‘Chand Kedar’ that he named after his guru and mentor Sangeet Martand Ustad Chand Khan. 

The evening ended with a spell-binding santoor recital by Pandit. Bhajan Sopori. 

The last day of the event witnessed an exhilarating tabla jugalbandi by Akbar Latif Khan and Babar Latif Khan, followed by soulful sitar recital by Ustad Saeed Zafar Khan.

Curtains were drawn on the event with an extraordinary performance by the 106-year-old Padma Bhushan Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan. 

The society conferred its prestigious Ustad Chand Khan Lifetime Achievement Award on Ustad Abdul Rashid Khan.

The award was presented by Hazrat Khwaja Hasan Sani Nizami, the Sajjada Nasheen Dargah Hazrat Nizamuddin Aulia and Hazrat Amir Khusro. 

He is also the patron in chief of the Sursagar Society of Delhi Gharana.