Report: Sacred Amritsar Festival 2024
The two-day event was an opportunity for attendees to reflect, celebrate, and connect even as it reminded them of their humanity and shared love for poetry and music
Amritsar is a city steeped in love, loss and longing. With Wagah, the international border between India and Pakistan, just 32 odd kilometres away, the city bears the indelible scars of past tragedy. “Amritsar evolved between the middle of the 16th century and the pre-Partition period in a socially and culturally harmonious manner. Despite being an important centre of the Sikh faith, it retained its inclusive character, and embraced all communities. However, this cultural fabric suffered setbacks due to disruptions such as the communal riots in the wake of Partition, terrorism, and Operation Blue Star. In the process, both the material and cultural memory of the city were lost to some extent,” says historian, architect and poet Sarbjot Singh Behl, who recited his poetry at the second edition of the Sacred Amritsar festival.
The annual event, which was held between February 23 and 25 across three newly renovated locations — the Earth-Urban Haat, Gobindgarh Fort, and Town Hall -- was an occassion to revisit and commemorate the past.
Amritsar, the city of the Golden Temple, the holiest shrine of the Sikhs, also treasures the fragrance of the Sufi tradition and Punjab’s famous folktales and love legends like the tales of Heer Ranjha, Sohni Mahiwal, Sassi Punnun, and Mirza Sahiba. It has also been the cradle of writers like Mohan Singh, one of the greatest Punjabi poets of the 20th century, and Vir Singh, who is credited with reviving the Punjabi literary tradition. Saadat Hasan Manto, who witnessed the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy (1919) as a boy, wrote about it in An Episode from 1919. It was here that Faiz Ahmed Faiz studied, and fell in love with his future wife, Alys. Walking around the Town Hall that houses the Partition Museum and a distinctive restaurant offering authentic Amritsari cuisine called Rang Punjab, one marvelled at its many wonders.
The singers and poets at the festival included Swanand Kirkire, Jasleen Aulakh, Soumyadeep Murshidabadi and Inderpreet Singh and Bir Singh. There were sessions on love and talks on loss; the attendees revelled in Amritsar’s distinctive vibe, went on heritage walks, experienced the sumptuousness of Punjabi cuisine, and visited the Golden Temple. Kirkire, lyricist and actor, who was last seen in the critically acclaimed Three of Us, enthralled the audience with his love poetry. “Every piece of art, everything we do in life comes from the space of love. Either you are striving for love or you are asking for love; either you are giving or you are getting loved. So I think art is love. It binds us together. Love is the only thing which connects everybody in the world,” he said.
Soumya Murshidabadi, the lead vocalist of the Murshidabad Project, sang songs of Kabir and Amir Khusro. “Love has been the true guiding force from the time I started learning with Ustad Rashid Khan and Gautam Bhattacharyaji. There was immense love because of it; without it, there is no growth,” he said.
Inderpreet Singh, lead singer of Faridkot Project, which performed some hit numbers like Madho, Challa, Laila, spoke about surrendering to fate. “We try to use this humility to constantly remind ourselves that we know nothing and that there is so much more to be done, so many more things to be said, and we just say them. Love is what we felt when we heard our favourite artists for the first time, who took us with them on a magic carpet ride. Without even knowing us ever, they communicated with us their love for music. We try to do the same,” he said adding that history is hidden in every corner of the city. He believes it is a symbol of both spirituality and bravery. “Love has never existed without loss; life throws everything at us — happiness, sorrow, joy and anger. That’s what this city teaches us: from a whisper to thunder, it’s all within,” he said. Singer Jasleen Aulakh said: “Love entails transcending all barriers of religion, gender and social status.” Through her songs Kyun Jaage, Chal Bulleya, Bhaanti bhaanti ki chidiya and Supna, it is exactly this message that she and her band tried to convey. Saumya Kulshreshtha and Harish Budhwani narrated poems and anecdotes from Amrita and Imroz’s love story and deciphered the former’s Punjabi poem Main Tenu Phir Milangi for the audience.
Amritsar is steeped in Sufism. Indeed, Baba Farid, also referred to as Hazrat Farīduddīn Ganjshakar, a 12th-century Sufi saint of the Chishti Order, was the first major poet in the Punjabi language. Faridkot derives its name from him. “The Sufi tradition is about annihilation of one’s ego (fana) and completely surrendering oneself to the will of the Creator (baqa). A Sufi soul (mureed) finds his/her companion soul (murshid) to be able to reach the final stage of merging with God and his creation,” said Sarbjot Singh Behl. His poems explore the relationship between mureed and murshid and talk about adopting one’s own path of salvation, different from the beaten track of formalised religions.
Talking about Sacred Amritsar, Sanjoy Roy, the Managing Director of Teamwork Arts, which conceptualised and organised the event said: “In today’s divisive world, it is imperative to discover the sacred within and the sacred that exists around us. Sacred Amritsar hopes to make a connection through music, poetry, the written word, culture, food and built heritage and help us rediscover our roots, our tradition and identity and, most importantly, empathy.”
Many visual artists also showcased their work during the festival. Manisha Gera Baswani’s exhibition, Postcards from Home held at the Partition Museum explored the sense of collective loss. “Even though my grandmother came from Ludhiana, Amritsar, for us, was the fulcrum of conversation when it came to Partition. So my association with the city is about the land to which all the refugees were coming and then moving to other places, as well as those who were leaving from here for the newly-formed Pakistan. Showcasing my work in Amritsar is poignant for me,” she said.
Artist Seema Kohli too spoke about the ways in which the older members of her family were connected to their ancestral home on the other side of the border. “There is a deep connection between the part of Punjab (now in Pakistan) and the city of Amritsar. It’s the closest in sensibility and language to the people who came from across the border. Amritsar is inspirational, and it’s also the city of my belief,” she said.
Despite the undercurrent of nostalgia, Sacred Amritsar’s many rich cultural offerings led attendees to reflect, connect, and celebrate, eventually reminding them of their shared humanity and deep love for art.
Shireen Quadri is the editor of The Punch Magazine Anthology of New Writing: Select Short Stories by Women Writers.
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