Indian embassy hosts Qawwali ensemble ahead of Jerash festival performance

AMMAN — The Indian Embassy on Wednesday hosted a Qawwali music night, featuring the Rooh Sufi Ensemble as a prelude to their Thursday performance at the Jerash Festival for Culture and Arts. 

The event also served as a precursor to the embassy’s celebration planned for August 15th on India’s 75th year of independence, according to Indian Embassy Press Secretary Razeem Kadavath. 

The ensemble travelled from Delhi, India, with seven of their 12 members, including lead vocalist Dhruv Sangari, playing their repertoire for members of the Indian community in Jordan and other embassy guests. 

Sangari and “Rooh” perform various interpretations of Qawwali, a form of Sufi Islamic music dating back hundreds of years and “which is undergoing continuous transformation”, Sangari told The Jordan Times. 

Qawwali music has diverse origins, originating from a mixture of Persian, Arabic, Turkish, Indian and other traditions, but like other genres, has changed over generations, which can make it unrecognisable from one generation to the next. 

The group regularly travels the world performing concerts, however this is the ensemble’s first performance in Jordan, Sangari said.

He addressed the crowd before the start of the show saying: “We are very delighted with the warm and loving welcome given to us by the ministries here involved in this Jerash festival and the Jordanian authorities. We are very grateful and very happy to be here.”

This is the first time in “a long while” the embassy has been able to host a music group from India, the embassy press secretary, Kadavath, told The Jordan Times. 

Kadavath said that: “Especially for the Jerash festival, we used to regularly participate, but because of the pandemic and other issues, nobody could come for years, and it is only after such a long time that a big event is happening again.”