Sanatkada Lucknow Festival continues its run in the city the weekend featured a popular home-cooked food festival, a classical dawn concert, and an innovative music ensemble performance.
Borno Anonyo: Music across traditions
The festival also featured Borno Anonyo, moving beyond conventional ideas of fusion, the ensemble explored a musical dialogue across diverse traditions—Pop, Rock 'n' Roll, Rabindra Sangeet, Baul-Fakir mystic folk, Hindustani and Western classical music, and Jazz.
A music lover at the concert, a BSc student at Lucknow University, shared: “Among the songs performed was a piece describing the separation (viraha) of Radha and Krishna, where Radha’s poetry was revisited on the stage. It was such a beautiful rendition for all the Hindustani music lovers.”
Seher Dawn Concert: A Jugalbandi of souls
The most awaited morning at the fest featured a refined jugalbandi by two eminent exponents of Hindustani classical music.
Ustad Irfan Md. Khan, the scion of the oldest and most illustrious family of sarod players of the Lucknow-Shahjahanpur Gharana, performed alongside Ustad Ilmas Husain Khan on tabla. Often referred to as the Khalifa of his gharana, Ustad Irfan who is also a scholar-historian of Hindustani music, began his performance with the raag Bhairav, followed by a presentation in Bhairavi.
Home-cooked heritage
The Sunday home cooked food festival, Bawarchi Tola, celebrated Lucknow’s culinary inheritance as it continues to live within homes, memories, and everyday practice. The festival brought together flavours passed down through generations and carried across cities.
{{/usCountry}}The Sunday home cooked food festival, Bawarchi Tola, celebrated Lucknow’s culinary inheritance as it continues to live within homes, memories, and everyday practice. The festival brought together flavours passed down through generations and carried across cities.
{{/usCountry}}The expansive home-style menu featured classics such as boti kabab, murgh kofte ka salan, murgh zafrani, murgh chatkhara, kayasthana gosht, lal mirch ka keema, and Calcutta fish curry. Vegetarian visitors explored generous Awadhi, Lucknawi, Punjabi, Marwari, and Dehaati thaalis, with popular desserts, including shahi tukda, rounding off the offerings.
Calling it “the most exciting day of the month,” chef Sheeba Iqbal said, “I was delighted to be here with my co-chefs. I served qeema biryani and mutton korma—dishes that truly belong to the home.”
Manzilat Fatima, who runs a restaurant in Kolkata, was a special guest and presented her celebrated Mutton Rezala. Speaking on the cultural significance, she said, “Bringing the Lucknow–Calcutta connection before people through food is a great idea for the foodies and authentic food lovers in both the cities.”