New Delhi: The cultural landscape of the capital has come alive with the grandeur of Urdu as the four-day Urdu Heritage Festival commenced at the Sunder Nursery near Nizamuddin, Humayun’s Tomb. “Jashn-e-Urdu,” a celebration of the essence of Urdu, brings forth the deep intimacy of the city along with its language. The event was organized under the careful supervision of the Department of Art, Culture, and Language of the Delhi government, in collaboration with the Urdu Academy Delhi.
This festival illuminates the rich cultural fabric of the Urdu language. During this extraordinary event, attendees can enjoy numerous cultural celebrations, including soul-stirring musical presentations, exhilarating dramas, intricate poetic performances, and thought-provoking debates.
Addressing the attendees, Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj stated that this program was organized by the Delhi government, and officials have put a lot of effort into the organization of this event. He commended the hard work of all those involved and expressed heartfelt gratitude to everyone for their enthusiastic participation in the event.
The Delhi Art, Culture, and Languages, Minister said, “The Delhi government is consistently organizing such programs in different areas of Delhi. The sole objective behind these programs is to establish our composite (Ganga-Jamuni) culture in the hearts of our youth.
“Urdu is a very sweet language that connects one person to another. The program is being organized for four days, from the 22nd to the 25th of this month. For this event, the Delhi government has invited renowned personalities from the world of ghazals and Sufi music, such as the Nizami Brothers, Khannak Joshi, Talat Aziz, and Salman Ali, winner of Voice of India. Along with this, for the first time in this program, a spectacular rendition of Ramleela through Urdu has been organized, which is a marvelous representation of the ancient Ganga-Jamuni culture of our country,” the Minister added.
Minister Bharadwaj expressed heartfelt gratitude to the attendees of the program and appealed to everyone to inform their friends and relatives about the program so that more and more people can enjoy such programs organized by the Delhi government.
About the Event
A key attraction in the series of scheduled programs is “Dastan-e-Ramayan: Ramleela in Urdu,” which is a unique portrayal by the Shraddha Ramleela group of Faridabad, demonstrating excellent integration of Hindi and Urdu in the depiction of the epic. A supplementary panel discussion is “Ramayan in the Mirror of Urdu,” which contemplates the Ramayan from the reflective lens of Urdu. Esteemed scholars such as Khalid Alvi, Khalid Ashraf, and Mohammad Kazim will provide insights into the Ramayan during this enlightening session.
The highlight of the third day of this program was the organization of a Ramleela with dialogues in Urdu. All the characters of Ramleela spoke their dialogues in Urdu. The wonderful blend of Sanskrit and Urdu was highly appreciated by the audience. Following the enactment of Ramleela, several Urdu scholars and historians engaged in excellent discussions on various versions of Ramayan printed in Urdu. This program serves as a great example of our Ganga-Jamuni culture.
Renowned Bollywood ghazal singer Talat Aziz performed beautiful ghazals during the program. The audience welcomed Talat Aziz’s ghazals with thunderous applause. People were so engrossed in the ghazals that the entire atmosphere of the program seemed profoundly spiritual. Talat Aziz’s ghazals, delivered in his enchanting voice, captivated the audience to such an extent that requests for their favorite ghazals started pouring in from the audience. People thoroughly enjoyed Talat Aziz’s ghazals.
While on one hand, people swayed to the tunes of Talat Aziz’s ghazals, on the other hand, they were mesmerized by the Sufi music of the famous Sufi singer Khank Joshi. The rendition of Sufi music by Khank Joshi in the program made it feel as if the entire atmosphere had become spiritual. Khank Joshi’s voice had such magic that it seemed to connect everyone directly to the divine. All the attendees were thoroughly enjoying Khanak Joshi’s Sufi music.
On Sunday, February 25th, the audience will have the opportunity to enjoy the enchanting music of Bollywood sensation and winner of Indian Idol 10, Salman Ali, whose voice will mesmerize the audience with its sweet charm.
Ensuring that tradition meets innovation, the festival will host poetry competitions such as “Bait Bazi” and “Char Bait,” which will breathe new life into a 400-year-old tradition for contemporary appreciation. This festival stands as a testament to Delhi’s commitment to promoting and preserving Urdu’s cultural narrative, showcasing the government’s ongoing efforts to enrich the capital’s cultural landscape.
