Sacred Spirit Festival Returns to Jodhpur With Globe-Spanning Lineup This February

Among the annual music gatherings returning after a two-year gap due to the pandemic, the Sacred Spirit Festival in Jodhpur has announced the lineup for its 14th edition, featuring Indian and international artists performing at Mehrangarh Fort between February 10th and 12th.

Keeping its curatorial bent towards presenting artists who conserve oral traditions of music across the world, Sacred Spirit Festival will host the Hatan Women Ensemble from Mongolia, singer-composer Madan Gopal Singh and the Chaar Yaar Ensemble, Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Tunisian/Paris musician Jean-Pierre Smadja aka Smadj, violinist-composer Jyotsna Srikanth, tabla veteran Anuradha Pal and her group Stree Shakti, singer-composer Sonam Kalra and more.

International artists include Turkish kemenche player Derya Tuerkan, Paris-born composer Loup Barrow (who plays a polyphonic instrument known as the Cristal Baschet), Greek musician Sokratis Sinopoulos (who plays the bowed instrument lyra), the Uzbek Bokhor Dance Company from Uzbekistan and more.

Sacred Spirit Festival’s artistic director Alain Weber also noted the addition of electric mandolin artists U.P. Raju and U. Nagamani to the lineup as special, slated to perform alongside their family. He adds in his statement, “This edition will be unique in various aspects as we will pay tribute to women creativity where Silk Road Dance Company, Uzbekistan will collaborate with Rajasthani Kalbeliya Dancers. We will also have the performance of Hatan women ensemble from Mongolia, and Anuradha Pal and her ensemble of women musicians from India. Dr Jyotsna Srikanth, one of the most influential contemporary artists of the south Indian Carnatic musical tradition, will perform with Jean-Pierre Smadja aka Smadj.”

The three-day festival is presented by the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, a cultural institution established and helmed by Maharaja Gaj Singh II. The patron of Sacred Spirit Festival said in his statement, “During the tough days of COVID pandemic, we all realized at our homes in isolation that music provides us sustenance and is a way towards meditation. Music also has the power to heal our mind, body and soul. Once again artists from different parts of the world will unite under the umbrella of SSF on a platform to celebrate the diverse spiritual and sacred musical traditions such as Sufi, Bhakti and devotional.”

Get more details about Sacred Spirit Festival here.