Mahindra Percussion Festival 2025 Lineup Announced
Ranjit Barot, Trilok Gurtu, Aruna Sairam, Ravi Chary and the duo Snax will perform across two days on Mar. 1 and 2 in Bengaluru, paying tribute to the late Zakir Hussain
Mahindra Percussion Festival 2025 will include performances by (from left to right) Ranjit Barot, Aruna Sairam and Trilok Gurtu. Photos: Courtesy of Mahindra Percussion Festival
Curated performances and star collaborations will come to the front at the third edition of Mahindra Percussion Festival, taking place on Mar. 1 and 2, 2025, at Prestige Srihari Khoday Centre for Performing Arts in Bengaluru.
With an overarching theme this year dedicated to paying homage to the late tabla legend Zakir Hussain, Mahindra Percussion Festival 2025’s lineup includes veteran percussionist Trilok Gurtu, renowned vocalist Aruna Sairam, drummer-percussionist and composer Ranjit Barot in collaboration with theater director Roysten Abel for a show titled BeatRoute, sitarist Ravi Chary and Chennai prog-fusion duo Snax.
Day one includes Gurtu’s performance that blurs genres and styles with his multiple percussive approach, plus Aruna Sairam’s Thrillana Project. She’ll be joined by vocalist Sangeet Haldipur, percussionist BC Manjunath, violinist Jyotsna Srikanth, bassist Shalini Mohan, percussionist Giridhar Udupa and drummer Arun Kumar. Also on the lineup on day one will be sitarist Ravi Chary, performing from his solo album Crossing, which was launched by Zakir Hussain and features the likes Barot and percussionist Taufiq Qureshi, among others on the record.
Day two includes Barot and Abel staging their musical production BeatRoute. A press release says, “This musical ode bridges the past and present, the masculine and feminine, and the everyday with the divine, amalgamating folk rhythms with modern electronic music and Barot’s drumming.”
There’s also Chennai duo Snax comprising drummer Ramkumar Kanakarajan (from rock bands such as Grey Shack and a touring drummer for singer-songwriter Sid Sriram) and seasoned mridangam artist Sumesh Narayanan. The act will perform on the back of releasing their debut album Thrillex in 2024, one that fuses rock, metal and jazz with Carnatic rhythms.
Tickets for Mahindra Percussion Festival are currently priced at ₹750 and ₹1,000 per day depending on seating.
Mahindra Group’s vice president of cultural outreach Jay Shah says in a statement, “The Mahindra Percussion Festival aims to put Percussion on centerstage. It explores the multitude of percussive instruments and styles – some are known but many of which remain relatively unknown. In line with all of our cultural outreach programs, this festival, too, discovers, inspires and celebrates artists and artforms.”
Organizers Hyperlink Brand Solutions’ founder V.G. Jairam added in his statement, “Mahindra Percussion is more than a festival; it’s a journey into the soul of rhythm. Through masterful curation with stalwarts such as Trilok Gurtu, Aruna Sairam, Ranjit Barrot, Ravi Chary, Sumesh Narayanan, and Roysten Abel, we bridge tradition and innovation, inviting fans to discover the universal language of beats, where every pulse tells a story and every rhythm sparks a connection.”
