With spring in his step and basant in Sunder Nursery’s air, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went lyrical at the Jahan-e-Khusrau Festival as he underscored the role of Sufi tradition in sustaining the country’s pluralistic culture while inaugurating the 25th edition of the Sufi music festival on Friday.
Addressing connoisseurs of Sufi music at the festival that commemorates the 13th-century poet and mystic Hazrat Amir Khusrau, Mr. Modi said, “Sufi music is our shared heritage that we have been living with for centuries.” Quoting verses of Amir Khusrau, Rumi, Nizamuddin Auliya, and Raskhan, Mr. Modi said, “Sufi saints in India didn’t limit themselves to mosques and shrines. If they read chapters of the holy Koran, they also listened to the Vedas. They added the sweetness of bhakti sangeet to the call of azaan.”
Expressing the similarity between Upanishadic thought and Nizamuddin Auliya’s Sufi chants, Mr. Modi said their syntax and style were different, but the message was the same. “Whether you listen to Surdas or Rahim and Raskhan or close your eyes to Khusrau’s poetry when you step into depths of consciousness you reach the height of spiritual love where you experience one with the almighty.”
He said Jahan-e-Khusrau had the fragrance of Indian soil, the land that Hazrat Amir Khusrau compared with the heaven.” Mr Modi said India was that garden of heaven where colours of different cultures blossomed. “When Sufi tradition came to India, it found itself at home. Here Baba Farid’s songs provided tranquillity to hearts, Nizamuddin Auliya’s verse lit lamps of love, and Amir Khusrau’s wove new pearls in the garland of existing languages.”
‘Connects countries’
Mr. Modi noted Sufi saints also helped bridge geographical boundaries and remembered how he quoted Rumi when he addressed the Afghan parliament in 2015 and stressed when Rumi says he doesn’t belong to any one place and belongs to every place, his philosophy is not different from the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is a family).
“These ideas give me strength when I represent India in different countries,” he said. He also recalled his visit to Iran when he quoted a Mirza Ghalib verse that indicated the short distance between Kashi and Kaashan if one makes up his mind. “This message holds a lot of meaning when war is causing so much harm to humanity,” he said.
Appreciating the Nazar-e-Krishna recital that was performed in his presence, Mr Modi remembered the days when he attended Krishna Mahotsav celebrations in Sarkhej Roza, an important centre of Sufi culture near Ahmedabad. Mr Modi said the centre was restored when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
He said Jahan-e-Khusrau was a modern symbol of the same tradition and praised founder and curator Muzaffar Ali for keeping the festival going for 25 years.
Addressing the audience at Jahan-e -Khusrau festival after watching a Sufi recital, “Nazar-e-Krishna”, Mr Modi said the performance was a fitting example of the shared heritage.
Published – March 01, 2025 01:51 am IST