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Qawwali is Sufi devotional ensemble singing performed at the dargahs of the Deccan. The Asaf Jahi court patronised it alongside Hindustani classical music, and singers travelled freely between durbar and dargah — but its deepest home has always been the shrine itself.[1]
Durbar and dargah, side by side
Patronised alongside Hindustani classical music
The Asaf Jahi court patronised both Hindustani classical music and the qawwali sung at Sufi shrines, and singers moved freely between the two worlds — the same artists who performed at durbar also sang at dargah.[1]
Khusrau to Wali Deccani
An unbroken line of poetry, sung every week
On any Thursday at the dargah of Khwaja Bandanawaz in Gulbarga, or at Yousufain Sharif in Hyderabad, qawwals open the evening with verses by Amir Khusrau and close with verses by Wali Deccani — a line of poetry running unbroken from the fourteenth century.[2]
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