The Mahindra Percussion Festival 2026 Lineup Brings Rhythm, Heritage, and Experimentation Together
The fourth edition of the music festival takes place on March 7 and 8, 2026 at the Prestige Centre of Performing Arts, Bengaluru
(From L-R): Praveen Sparsh, Bickram Ghosh, and Charu Hariharan. Photo: Courtesy of Mahindra Percussion Festival
After previous city-wide ventures, The Mahindra Percussion Festival will be returning to home turf in Bengaluru at the Prestige Centre for Performing Arts. The two-day festival, spread across March 7 and 8, 2026, is a concoction of legacy, cultural identity, tradition, and community. Now in its fourth edition, the festival aims to celebrate percussion as a timeless pillar of India’s musical heritage and bring together artists from across the country whose diverse identities reflect a shared, evolving cultural tradition.
This year’s lineup walks the talk, too. Bringing together rhythmic legends, experimental heavyweights, folk renegades, and young virtuosos under one roof, the festival underscores musical diversity while offering a glimpse into India’s percussion-forward scene.
Here are the stand-out sets to catch at the festival.
YATRA by Mahesh Kale
When: March 7, 2026
National-award-winning vocalist Mahesh Kale’s project YATRA is a love letter to indigenous devotional sounds. Using the Bhakti culture of Maharashtra as an anchor, Kale’s performance dives into the unexplored nuances of spiritual music, especially in the homegrown context. A multidisciplinary marvel, YATRA uses percussion to paint socio-cultural narratives in modern brushstrokes.
Nada Pravaham – Circle of Sound
When: March 7, 2026
An intergenerational collective rooted in tradition, Nada Pravaham celebrates the expansive language of percussion. Featuring Padma Vibhushan Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman alongside tabla virtuoso Ishaan Ghosh and drummer Shravan Samsi, the performance explores rhythm as a third space where traditional and contemporary frameworks can coexist harmoniously.
Women Who Drum
When: March 8, 2026
Representing the finest Indian female percussionists, Women Who Drum is anything but tokenistic. A multi-instrumental collective, the ensemble includes Swarupa Ananth, Charu Hariharan, Nush Lewis, Hamta Baghi, and Shalini Mohan. Moving beyond the mridangam and tabla, the performance also foregrounds global sounds across borders and cultures.
‘The Parai Awakens – Unreserved Live’ by Praveen Sparsh
When: March 8, 2026
Spotlighting Parai, one of the oldest percussive folk traditions of Tamil Nadu, Praveen Sparsh’s set unfolds more as a conversation than a performance. Drawing on the ancestral soundscapes of indigenous communities, Sparsh positions himself as a medium, carving out space for underrepresented voices from the region. In a scene dominated by the semantics of the “mainstream,” and “homegrown,” The Parai Awakens arrives as a bracing breath of fresh air.
Drums Of The East By Bickram Ghosh
When: March 8, 2026
The Grammy-nominated tabla virtuoso, along with his ensemble featuring Gopal Barman (Sreekhol), Ranjan De (dhol), Abhisek Mallick (electric sitar), and Gokul Dhaaki and co. (Dhaaks), is set to crank the barometer of experimentation with his immersive live presentation, Drums of the East. Paying homage to the vast sonic traditions of Bengal and Eastern India, the performance layers rhythm and texture through body percussion, electronic beats, and the tabla itself.
Get tickets for The Mahindra Percussion Festival 2026 here.
