Three days of heritage walks, music at Mehrauli monsoon festival

NEW DELHI: Delhi will witness first of its kind Mehrauli monsoon festival from August 30. The three-day festival consisting of heritage walks, story-telling sessions and qawwali and kathak dance performances will be held at Mehrauli’s Jahaz Mahal, Aam Bagh and at Jharna to pay an ode to monsoon. It will be marked by an array of eclectic activities to allow visitors to soak in the colours of music, culture and life.Celebrated qawwali singers— Qutbi brothers will be giving a performance at Shaam-e-Mehfil at Jahaz Mahal on Friday. The Jahaz Mahal will also witness the rhythmic performance of kathak by famous dancer Rani Khanam and her group. These events will start at 6:30 pm.
“The festival is designed to offer joy and excitement which monsoon showers usher in,” said an official of the tourism department of Delhi government which is organizing the festival. The musical extravaganza on day one will begin with the Rajasthani flavour, with folk music performance by the local artistes scheduled on Friday.
The musical events on the second day will open with the performance of folk dance from Uttar Pradesh. Popular names in Hindustani classical music—Kashish Mittal and Shashwati Mandal are scheduled to perform too. The musical evening will see the sprinkling of fusion with famous Sufi and ghazal singer Indira Nayak and Sanket Nayak also scheduled to perform on Saturday evening.
The last day of the event will start with a performance by local artistes and the fragrance of Haryanvi folk dance. It is expected to proceed towards its climax with sthe performance by playback singer Javed Ali, who predominantly sings in Bollywood films.
Mehrauli had developed around the shrine of the Sufi saint Qutbuddin Bakhtiyar Kaki, popularly known as Qutb Sahib. The settlement continued to evolve over several centuries, each layer leaving an imprint of its own in the development. Now, Mehrauli is a culturally rich area consisting of several historical structures like tombs, shrines, temple, etc. dating to the Rajput, Sultanate, Mughal and colonial periods. Many of these structures carry huge significance for pilgrims and tourists.
The tourism department had conceptualised the festival to promote Mehrauli, which was a popular monsoon destination during the Mughal era, as a tourist attraction in the city. An official said that despite having so many attractions, most of the tourists only visit Qutub Minar.
On all three days of the festival, heritage and ecological walks have been planned. At the venue, an exhibition by Delhi Archives will also be put up. Every day from 12 pm onwards, a food festival will begin at Aam Bagh. The government has made free shuttle service available from Chhattarpur Metro station to the venue and back to facilitate the last-mile connectivity.