Bishnupur Music Festival 2022

The Bishnupur Gharana of Hindustani Classical Music, the only specialist method of Indian Classical Music of Bengal, originated in the 13th Century following the Dhrupad tradition. Once the domain of the Malla Kings who owed allegiance to the Mughal Empire, Bishnupur has historically been the cultural capital of Eastern India. Bishnupur Music Festival, an unique initiative of West Bengal Tourism Department, pays homage to the pioneers of the tradition and keeps the rich cultural tradition alive. The Bishnupur gharana remains the only vocal gharana of West Bengal, and owes much of its popularity to Bahadur Khan. A descendant of Tansen and a dhrupad vocalist of the Senia gharana, Khan fled Aurangzeb's court, like many other musicians, and settled in Bishnupur, already known for its patronage of the arts. An accomplished vocalist and instrumentalist, Bahadur Khan became the court musician of king Raghunath Singh Deo II, and soon acquired a number of disciples. Today, the Bishnupur Music Festival, a unique initiative of the West Bengal Tourism Department, pays homage to those long-ago pioneers, and keeps the rich cultural heritage of the land of the Malla kings alive. At par with the Khajuraho or Konark Dance Festivals in terms of popularity and reach, the festival has inevitably had to be scaled down this year owing to the Covid pandemic, but it will nevertheless go ahead, and as always, draw some of the finest names in contemporary Hindustani classical music. Scheduled to be held between March 25 and 27, 2022, the festival will see the participation of renowned vocalists and instrumentalists alongside several other performers.