Amir Khusrau Dehlavi (1253-1325), musician, scholar and poet, was a devoted disciple of the Sufi saint Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya of Delhi. He is widely considered to be the father of qawwali, the devotional music of the Sufis in the Indian subcontinent. The publication showcases the celebration of the Jashn e-Khusrau festival and the events related to it.

The volume focuses on the Jashn e-Khusrau festival held in March 2010 that saw qawwali and performances in other genres of music, academic symposiums, poetry readings and recordings to a large audience at the historic Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti in Delhi and at the India International Centre. The festival put together an assembly of selected khanaqahi qawwals with different dargah traditions, each with a distinctive style.

The volume deals with contribution of Khusrau’s poetry to the qawwali tradition. It discusses the literary aspects of Amir Khusrau’s poetry, the qawwali art form and artistes and nature of patronage to it.

With specific reference to the festival, it presents discussions with the qawwals, heritage works in Nizamuddin basti and film screenings of Sufi music and on Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, one of the greatest exponents of qawwali in our time, and an exhibition displaying Humayun’s tomb, Sunder Nursery and Hazrat Nizamuddin Basti area urban renewal initiatives. It explores the performances by artistes from India and Pakistan. It focuses on the skill of the artistes, and their reverberating renditions and their repertoire.It comments on recent developments in qawwali music.

The volume has beautiful colour photographs that bring alive the event and present paintings representing Khusrau’s poetry and thought. It comes along with three music discs that exemplify the vast repertoire of khanaqahi qawwali and Amir Khusrau’s kalam.