Sama’a: Festival of Sufi music – Day 1

Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb in India and its influence on music

Rana Safvi in conversation with Geetanjali Kala

The concept of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb is India’s unique syncretic ethos. It serves both as a cultural philosophy and a living tradition that has long symbolised the composite culture of India, where Hindu and Muslim traditions have coalesced to create shared spaces of language, art, ritual and expression.

The presentation underlines the relevance of syncretism in contemporary discourses on cultural harmony and identity in South Asia. It seeks to highlight the profound influence of the cultural fusion on Indian music, with a particular focus on Sufi musical traditions. Tracing its historical evolution from the medieval period to the present, the presentation examines how the intermingling of Bhakti and Sufi sensibilities produced a distinct musical heritage that transcended religious boundaries. Drawing on examples such as Amir Khusrau’s poetic innovations, the qawwali tradition in dargahs, and regional expressions such as kafi, ghazal and tappa, Kabir’s dohas and Meera’s bhajans, the discussion reveals how music became both a vehicle for spiritual devotion and a medium of cultural negotiation.

Furthermore, there will be a focus on how this syncretic ethos fostered not only linguistic hybridity but also encouraged musical melding, blending Persian maqams and Indian ragas, as well as instruments and performance styles.

Rana Safvi is a distinguished Indian historian, author and translator, committed to a deep engagement with India’s syncretic culture and Sufi traditions. Through her books, essays and heritage walks, she brings alive the shared spiritual and cultural spaces of medieval India. She stands as a passionate voice for pluralism, reminding us of a past where inclusivity and spirituality went hand in hand. While her storytelling and research explores the enduring appeal of Sufi shrines as spaces of communal harmony, her writing blends architecture, poetry, oral traditions and personal memory to preserve fading legacies.

Geetanjali Kala teaches media, communication and cultural studies at the Cluster Innovation Centre of the University of Delhi. As an academic informed by her foundational training in Urdu and Persian, she is interested in syncretic cultures including heterodox Bhakti and Sufi traditions of South Asia.

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