Music for the soul at this event

The sixth edition of Kabira Festival was a soulful journey for the attendees. Dedicated to the Indian poet and mystic Kabir Das, whose philosophy reached the audience, during the festival, through different mediums, with music being the most predominant one. The festival had a picture-perfect start as the picturesque surroundings on the Guleria Ghat provided the perfect setting for the festival to commence. Jugalbandi of Kumar Sarang and Pt Lalit Kumar on santoor and tabla respectively gave a melodious start to the event. Their presentation of alap, jod, jhala on the instrument was a treat for the music aficionado.

Raghu Dixit

Saskia Rao-de Haas and Pt Shubhendra Rao

Jasleen Aulakh

The subsequent musical evenings of the festival organised on Shivala Ghat served the absolute succour for the soul. The Ishara Puppet Theatre and Soule Band transported the audience to a different world through their musical performance based on the dohas of Kabir. This was followed by jugalbandi between Saskia Rao-de Haas and Pt Shubhendra Rao on cello and sitar respectively. Prominent vocalist of Carnatic music Aruna Sairam gave presentations saluting the spiritual essence of the city that led to a lot of applause.

Aruna Sairam

Ashish Kumar

Swati Minaxi

(L) Ashok Kapoor and Sanjoy K Roy (R) Divya Seth

The concluding evening of the festival was further jazzed up by some great performances. Singer and songwriter Jasleen Aulakh presented some folk numbers. She began with a shabad , Janam Maran Ka Bharam Gaya followed by a sufi number like Chal Bulleya Othe Chaliye , Paisa Kardi Duniya which had the audience asking for more. The performance of singer–composer Raghu Dixit and his band took the evening to a different level altogether. He began with a Kannada song followed by songs dedicated to Kabir like Oh Sadho. The performer made sure that everyone had some song on their lips and were light on their feet as they left the venue. The rising sun, with river Ganga at the backdrop accompanied by some serene notes of music, was a different experience altogether. Artists like Dr Kamla Shankar on slide guitar, and vocalist Rama Sunder Rangnathan during the morning sessions kept the audience enthralled.

(L) Irina (R) Madhvi and Atul Dua

Katrin Kivi (L) and Gerli Roos

(L) Minhal Hasan (R) Sushma Seth