Bhubaneswar, March 11: Cultural organisation Bhubaneswar Music Circle, in association with the state tourism department, is organising a festival of Sufi and other devotional music.

The festival is part of the golden jubilee celebrations of the music institute.

The three-day programme titled Samarpan begins tomorrow at Rabindra Mandap, and will feature six recitals by renowned artistes such as the Warsi brothers and other artistes from across India.

Such a festival is rare in the city. On the inaugural day, singer Sangita Gosain will present a rendition of the traditional Bhakti Sangeet in Odia. Her recital will be followed by Sufi music from Kashmir presented by Sushree Ragini Rainu and her group.

The second evening promises to take the spiritual fervour a notch higher. Artistes from Malwa in Madhya Pradesh will present a recital based on the teachings of poet Kabir. Kaluram Bamniya and his group will sing some of Kabir’s bhajans. Next, artistes will perform Baul songs.

Parvati Baul and her group will present Baul gaan, a form of devotional folk music immensely popular in the rural belt of Bengal.

The third and final evening of the event will showcase Khanjani Bhajan by a group of saints from the Mahima Ashram at Joranda in Dhenkanal.

The concluding act of the festival will be Sufi qawwali by the well-known Warsi brothers from Hyderabad.

Qawwali is a form of devotional song peculiar to India and Pakistan and dates back to the 13th century. The Warsi brothers, Nazeer Ahmed Khan Warsi and Naseer Ahmed Khan Warsi, belong to the Qawwal Bachchey ka Gharana, and are known for maintaining the originality of the ragas they render.

Both brothers perform regularly on All India Radio. Their concert, especially their performance of Amir Khusrau’s qawwalis in their classical style, promises to leave music connoisseurs spellbound.

“The Sufiana philosophy, professed by Sufi saints centres around the quest for personal enlightenment through union with God. Sufiana music is the means for such union and is mystical. Often, both the singers and the listeners move into the transcendental realm during the performance,” Khirod Pattnaik, general secretary, Bhubaneswar Music Circle.