Culture Desk
Indira Gandhi Culture Centre organised an evening of Sufi music by ICCR troupe led by the Roohani Sisters from India on November 29 at 6 pm at IGCC Dhanmondi and on November 30 at the Gulshan Club, Dhaka. The troupe also performed at the Hatkhola Festival in Chittagong on December 2.
The artistes were accompanied by Rajesh Prasanna on flute, Ustaad Amaan Ali Khan on tabla, Praveen Kumar on keyboard, Amit Kumar on dholak and Amar Sangam on guitar.
The singers rendered Mann Kunto Maula, Akhiyan Udeek Diyan, Allah Hoo, Khqaja Mere Khqaja, Dama Dam Mast Kalandar and Main To piya Se Naina.
The Roohani Sisters, Jagriti Luthra and Neeta Pandey, are highly versatile classical singers of India. They trained in classical music from Smt Ketaki Banerjee of famous Kirana Gharana and are presently learning under the guidance of their Guru Sh. Ritesh Mishra of Banaras Gharana. Besides this, Ms. Jagriti Luthra has completed 6th year from Pracheen Kala Kendra, Chandigarh, and Prabhakar from Prayag Sangeet Samiti, Allahabad. Ms. Neeta Pandey has completed her Post Graduation in Indian Classical Music and M.Phil from Faculty of Music and Fine Arts, University of Delhi.
The Roohani Sisters have performed at various prestigious stages in India like Delhi International Art Festival in 2010, Bangalore
International Art Festival, Maha Kumbh Mela Music Festival organised by Uttaranchal Govt., Nagaur Festival organised by Rajasthan Govt., Sufi Music Festival in Ajmer, Dehradun Founder’s Day Festival organised by Govt. of India etc. They have also participated abroad in International Folk Music Festival in Sweden in 2008 and Festival of India in Ethiopia.
It is difficult to appreciate and understand Sufism fully without an informed exposure to the expressive cultural forms that help define and enhance it. Sufi music gives dimension of Islamic mysticism that transports the seeker on the path of spiritual attainment into higher states of consciousness that promise spiritual intoxication and a unique and intimate union, even annihilation, in the supreme being.
Sufi music helps you to meditate and feel quiet and peaceful, sufi artist play a very vital role in it. In some Sufi songs, the rhythm gets faster and faster and the singer reaches high musical tones helping the audience to feel a “climax” or a great feeling of ecstasy. Sufism is not Islam. Not all Muslims are Sufis.
Roohani sisters are a beautiful sufi singers mix of two equally talented performers who are at par with each other and on the same hand complement each other with their different yet same styles of singing. Such a duet sufi performance is able to combine the best of both the performers and this can be noticed when they perform together.
