Ambedkar Varsity to host popular week-long Dara Shikoh Festival from tomorrow

New Delhi: Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's eldest son Dara Shikoh's life and his contributions to society through his political and literary pursuits will be recalled and brought alive during the 11-day-long Dara Shikoh Festival of Delhi.

Commencing from Friday (March 27), the festival will be on till April 6. It will be held in the Ambedkar University campus.

The event will feature stories of history through theatre and music. The festival will also include theatre performances by the heritage theatre group Darwesh, DastanGoi on the life of Dara Shikoh, a sound and light installation around the building evoking the era and a musical journey through 17th century Mughal India.

To be held between 6.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. on seven of the eleven scheduled days (Holidays on 29th March, 1st April 2nd April and 5th April), the festival will feature the following programmes:

.The Dara Shikoh Library: Worlds - Sound and projections around the histories of the building. This will be a collaborative effort by PriyaSen, Shaahkar Siddique and team.

.Dastangoi: A biographical piece on Dara Shikoh, conceived and scripted by Ankit Chadha in collaboration with Supriya Gandhi. Dastangoi is a 16th century Persian and Urdu oral storytelling art form.

.Dara Shikoh', Heritage Theatre by Darwesh: A theatrical telling of Dara Shikoh's life, recounting some known and lesser known tales that shaped the course of Dara Shikoh's life. Darwesh is a Delhi based storytelling organisation that presents Delhi through customised tours and performances.

.Musical arts of Delhi (17th and 18th centuries): Irfan Zuberi in conversation with Geetanjali Tyagi will train their focus on the different musical practices and transitions within musical traditions at the time.

Irfan Zuberi is Project Manager, National Cultural Audiovisual Archives at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts(IGNCA).