Royal palaces and havelis have been an abode to both fine art and the performing arts. Right from Mian Tansen to Bismillah Khan to Bulleh Shah, musicians, poets and Sufi saints have filled their interiors with their resonating voices. Till date, this tradition of patronage is being kept alive by some royals and nobles of India who host hugely successful annual music festivals on their premises, inviting aficionados of the arts.
However, in the year of the pandemic this tradition was side tracked or taken online. The Sunday Guardian takes a look at the best of music festivals held within royal addresses, with the hope of attending them again in this year of new beginnings, with the sense of safety brought by the vaccines.
To begin with, it was heartening to see Magnetic Fields add another festival IP to their stupendously successful lineup. Steered by the Alsisar family, Magnetic Fields Nomads 2021 was announced to be held in Nahargarh, Ranthambore from 19-21 March and got booked within hours of the announcement. A three-day 400 attendees-capacity event, Nomads will provide unique culinary experiences under the ‘The Chef’s Table” banner, pool parties, garden picnics and jungle safaris.
“Magnetic Fields Nomads is a new project that we have been dreaming of over the last few years,” says the team behind the festival. “Our focus this year is on championing and supporting local excellence in food, culture and music as we cautiously celebrate the encouraging signs of revival in India.”
The original festival, Magnetic Fields, which the family will give a slip this year, is where the world’s most famous and most underground performers share a stage. All boundaries melt into fluid sections and communities merge into one society under the influence of so much love. Among the best music festivals in Rajasthan, it is famous for secret parties in what used to be dungeons without dragons.
Other royals who are brewing their programmes for this year also need to be saluted for doing their part in keeping the legacy of rooted music alive, year after year. One such event is the Rajasthan International Folk Festival, which classical and folk music lovers wait for. With the majestic Mehrangarh Fort as its backdrop, the festival presents local, folk talents over three resoundingly melodious days. The festival is much respected and has seen the birth of iconic artists like Mame Khan and Kutle Khan.
Then there is the ‘family-oriented’ Taalbelia Festival, held in the iconic Mandawa Haveli, which aptly showcases the Shekhawati region and its culture. Located in the heart of Rajasthan, Mandawa town plays host to Taalbelia, a four-day-long multi-format festival, which seeks to highlight a wide range of music genres that usually don’t find a spot in the current crop of festivals. Four days, three stages and more than 30 acts feature a combination of music, arts and crafts, along with adventure, royal hospitality and gastronomic experiences unique to the belt.
Meanwhile in the distant land of Awadh, in the heart of Qaiser Bagh, the Raja of Kotwara, Muzaffar Ali, and his wife, Meera, present the Wajid Ali Shah festival that relives the era of the emperor who turned his state of Awadh into a mystical world of music, art and dance. The festival begins at Wajid Ali Shah’s mazhar and goes through the many havelis of Qaisar Bagh to relive the Talukdari era of Awadh. The Alis, known for their festival Jahan E Khusrau, are now getting set to plan the 2021 edition of this acclaimed Sufi music festival. “We were indeed lucky to host it in 2020, just a few days before the lockdown, and this year, when all will be vaccinated and lovers of music will feel at peace and safe, we will announce the 2021 edition,” said the organisers. Once again Arab ke Serai will resonate with sufiana kalam, the dance of the dervishes and a salute to the many Sufi saints born on our rich soil.
