Artistes from India and Pakistan produced a spellbinding recital at the Sufi festival here last night.
Prominent among those who performed on the third day of the Sufi festival were Yaqoob Sheikh, Umrao Mazhar Bandhu Khan, Barkat Sidhu, Abdul Rashid Hafiz and Zila Khan.
While Sheikh presented a Kashmiri Sufiyana Kalam, Pakistani singer Bandhu Khan enthralled the audience with a rendition of Sufiyana Kalam.
Santoor maestro Shiv Kumar Sharma and his son Rahul also put up rivetting performance.
Ahead of the festival, ICCR Director-General Pavan Verma had said the Sufi festival would help build bridges of culture with Pakistan.
"Culture as a medium of interaction beyond politics should be strengthened," Verma said.
"We must rise over the narrow creeds of faith to encourage such mass contact. Pakistani artistes love performing in India for the great respect they have for this country," he added.
The five-day festival, organised by the Amarnath Shrine Board, Indian Council for Cultural Relations and Doordarshan in collaboration with the Information and Tourism department, is said to be the first to feature Sufi artistes from both sides of the border.
State Governor SK Sinha, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Culture and Tourism Minister Ambika Soni were among those who graced the occasion.
{{/usCountry}}State Governor SK Sinha, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Culture and Tourism Minister Ambika Soni were among those who graced the occasion.
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