The Qawwali Project - An Untold Story

Qawwali that is traditionally performed at the Dargah (Shrines) is by the performers of minority communities who are called Qawwals. Mehfil-e-Sama, or the Assembly for listening, is considered important at the Dargah and hence Qawwali becomes a medium where believers create a link to religious ecstasy and to God through the performer.

saiyan sajilay torey naina rasilay, jiyaraa par kar gayo vaar re…
Listen to one of the traditional centuries old composition of this silsila sung as a Qawwali on this link

The Qawwali Project, is an initiative conceptualized by Manjari Chaturvedi where the untold story of Qawwali unfolds through the eyes of photographers. The practitioners are photo-documented with their performance art, their lives and their association with the Sufi shrines where they perform. Qawwali is the performance art and Qawwal is the practitioner. This is an attempt by the Sufi Kathak Foundation to document the traditions as they exist at the shrines itself.