Celebrating the cathartic spirit of Kondotty culture, IQRA: Kondotty Sufi Fest, 2019 was conducted by Thakkiya Foundation for culture and development on 16th and 17th November 2019 at Qubba Premises, near Calicut Airport. Storytellers, poets, eminent musicians created the aura of the fest and transformed it into an event unlikely to forget.
One of the major highlights of the festival was the procession with Muttum Vilijiyum from Kalothu Thakkiya to Kondotty Thakkiya. Other than that, sufi musical performance by Mukhtiyar Ali from Rajasthan, musical performance by John Nelson from Ireland and Sopanasangeetham by Njaralath Harigovindan were the events that tempted the audience to dive deeper into the sea of music. Musical concerts by Shabnam Virmani and Swagath Sivakumar, Vednath Bharathwaj, Rashmi Satheesh and Olam Band attracted the crowd and made them sway on the rhythm.
Poetry sessions like Mahakavi by Hussain Randathani and Thaayambaka by Padmashri Kuttan Maarar instantly became the nub of the festival. Amidst all these celebrations, Rag Razaq was honoured with the “Thakkiya Puraskaaram 2019”.
Along with these musical performances and the storytelling events, talks on Kondotty’s Histroicity, music, Sufism, Philosophy of Waste and Oli were organised and faces like Professor Ilias, S Gopalkrishnan, Hashim, C Hamsa, Resul Pookutty and Anita Thampi became the key speakers of the event.
A market of traditional artefacts and handicrafts and food and beverages from across the Malabar Region was the centre of attraction of the festivities.
Sculptural Installation by Jigesh Kumar, Ponnani Series Photography Exhibition by K R Sunil, Small Scale Societies Video Installation by Vipin Vijay, Graffiti by Abid Sheikh and Mohammad Irshad, Kondotty by Biju Ibrahim (Photography), Graphic Art by Lathish Laxman, Alang by Madhu Kapparath (Photography) and Painting by Anitha T K made their way to the hearts of participants in festival.
True to Kondotty’s transformative spirit, IQRA: Sufi Fest ignited and illuminated togetherness in multiplicity through soul-stirring music, mystical poetry recitations and illuminating discourses on philosophy, art and the esoteric wisdom of one of the oldest living and most cosmopolitan of mystical traditions in the world. Cultural festivals like these make us believe that we as Indians are not drifting away from our culture and rather embracing it joyfully.
