The Qawwali Project – An Untold Story

The way Qawwali is sung today, the present form and structure of music is credited to Amir Khusrau in the late 13th century. Qawwali became a new cultural and aesthetic expression by blending elements from Turkey, Persia and India. Amir Khusrau himself was of Turkish origin. The musical tradition continues unbroken at the shrines. Here we see a traditional haazri (singing) at the shrine by Dhruv Sangari (Bilal Chisty), a leading, very popular Qawwal from the new generation of practitioners.

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.