Traditional Punjabi music to enthrall Delhi

New Delhi: A two-day festival showcasing Punjab`s traditional Kheyal Gayeki genre of Hindustani classical music will begin here May 30, its organisers said here Wednesday. The "Traditional Music of Punjab" festival is being presented by the Punjabi Academy in association with the Delhi government`s department of art, culture and languages (DACL) at the India International Centre. "The festival is a special tribute to the beautiful Punjabi language Kheyal bandishes which have enriched Hindustani classical music ever since the Mughal era of Emperor Mohd. Shah Rangeela in whose darbar the famous Shah Sada Rang and Shah Ada Rang evolved and persented the kheyal style of music as characteristic of the Punjabi genre as it is of Hindustani classical music," a statement said. The festival "will bring together five Hindustani music maestros to relive the Punjabi kheyal bandishes composed in the Punjabi language during the last 200 years ever since Kheyal Gayeki came into existence", the statement added. "It is a great pleasure to put together a festival that pays homage to beautiful tradition of Hindustani classical music. Many artists have kept these traditions alive through centuries," the statement quoted DACL secretary Rinku Dugga as saying. "This festival is an effort to promote the traditional music of Punjab and generate interest among the young generation towards this art form," she added.