750-Year-Old Sufi Music Festival Returns to Hyderabad

When a beloved disciple saw his teacher drowning in grief 750 years ago, he dressed in yellow, carried flowers, and sang spring songs until joy returned to his master's heart. That moment of compassion between Saint Nizamuddin Aulia and poet Amir Khusrau now inspires thousands to gather each January in Hyderabad.

The Sufi Basant Festival returns on January 23 to the Dargah Hazrath Shaik ji Hali R A, bringing an ancient tradition of unity to modern India. Muzaffar Ali Soofi Chishti launched the festival in Hyderabad in 2014, creating a space where bureaucrats sit beside students, where Muslims pray alongside Hindus, all dressed in yellow to honor the arrival of spring.

The celebration mirrors the original story perfectly. When Khusrau saw villagers heading to Kalka Mandir in yellow clothes carrying flowers and drums, singing as they went to honor the goddess, he joined them. He dressed like them and brought their joy to his grieving teacher through song, lifting the saint's spirits when nothing else could.

Today's festival keeps that spirit alive through music that transcends religious boundaries. The evening opens with a sarangi and sitar duet, followed by semi-classical vocals, and closes with spring-themed qawwalis by the Warsi Brothers and Shabaz Ali Khan. Every performance features compositions by Amir Khusrau himself, the disciple who started it all.

Why This Inspires

In a world that often emphasizes division, this festival does the opposite through the simple power of shared experience. Diplomats and ministers arrive alongside everyday music lovers, all following the same yellow dress code. They listen to the same songs about spring, hope, and the human spirit that people heard seven and a half centuries ago.

The festival celebrates more than just music or seasonal change. It honors a friendship so deep that one man's creative compassion could heal another's heartbreak, and it proves that same compassion still resonates today.

Now in its eighth edition after pausing during the pandemic, the event has become a fixture on Hyderabad's cultural calendar. Free and open to all, it draws diverse crowds united by curiosity, love of music, and the Sufi teaching that joy shared becomes joy multiplied.

The yellow flowers, traditional instruments, and ancient qawwalis create an evening where 750 years dissolve into a single moment of connection.