Oct 20 2024 to Oct 20 2024 6 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Mela Chiraagaa’n… …a MELA of Sufi kalaam, woven with music and narration …a MELA that brings Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims together to celebrate a poet from Punjab’s soil …a MELA that dissolves boundaries of gender, caste, class, religion The earthy kalaam of 16th century Sufi faqeer Shah Hussain is an inseparable part of Punjab’s soil, its consciousness, its ‘khalqat’, the people of ‘Sanjha’ Punjab. Weaver, mystic, poet, Shah Hussain kept away from ‘peeri’, ‘meeri’, all kinds of high sounding titles, he lives in our hearts as ‘faqeer nimaana’ (the lowly faqeer).

Mela Chiraaga’an Urs is celebrated every year in remembrance of this poet faqeer Shah Hussain and his beloved disciple, a Hindu Brahmin boy Madho Lal, as they lie buried in their twin graves near Lahore. So inextricably connected, Shah Husain is also remembered as Madho Lal Hussain. 2024 marks Madho lal Hussain’s 436th Urs, his death anniversary, a celebration of the final union with the beloved divine ( ‘Urus’ in Arabic is a wedding)

This Mela, a confluence of his poetry, woven with music and narrative, is his journey as a Julaaha (weaver), a ‘malaamati’, as Faqeer Nimaana, the lowly faqeer. It celebrates Punjab’s common cultural landscape, the common poetry, the language, the voice, which remains one despite the border that separates us.