Q is for Qawwali !

My initial impressions of a Qawwali was of gaudily dressed people sitting across each other, clapping their hands and singing love songs aka hindi movie style. 

Then I was introduced to Sufism and the actual concept of Qawwali as devotional music.

Qawwali especially in India and Pakistan is the most widely known type of Sufi Music. Amir Khusrow, an eminent scholar, musician and follower of Sufism  is regarded the father of Qawwali in the Indian Subcontinent.

My best experiences of Qawwali have been at the Nizammuddin Dargah and Ajmer Sharif. They are the final resting places of two of the greatest Sufi Saints India has ever seen; Hazarat Nizamuddin Auliya and Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. 

Both these places have an extremely high spiritual aura and listening to a Qawwali in these ethereal surroundings is an experience one can not forget easily.

Qawwali at Nizammudin Dargah 

When you hear a Sufi Qawwali for the first time you will get an impression that they are all love songs. They are love songs but the love in not directed towards an earthly person but towards the divine !

Qawwalis are songs of devotion and love towards God and speak of a soul’s longing for a union with the divine. For a mystic soul, a good Qawwali will have the same influence as a Hymn or a bhajan. Then it becomes a form of prayer, a way to lose yourself in the divine.

Some of the most famous Qawwali singers of our time and my favorite are the Wadali Brothers, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Abeeda Parveen.

I leave you with a few of my favorite Qawwalis.

Chaap Tilak sab cheeni By Abeeda Parveen:

Maula Mere Maula and khwaja mere Khwaja sung by A. R Rahman