Lovely Professional University hosted the first ever inter university national qawwali competition organized under the aegis of the Association of Indian Universities, New Delhi. The event, named ‘Afreen-Bazm-E-Qawwali’, carried the theme of ‘National Integration and Communal Harmony’.
The home team won the Championship Trophy along with a cash prize of Rs 20,000. GNDU Amritsar was declared the first runner-up and got a cash prize of Rs 15,000 whereas the University of Mumbai, and Chandigarh University shared second runner-up prize of Rs 10,000. The Chief Guest of the event, Mr. Sampson David, AIU Joint Secretary of Cultural Affairs, gave away the prizes to the winners.
The words of LPU’s prize winning qawwali were “Watan Kaa Har Bashar Apna, Sabhi se dil milana hae”, while the University of Mumbai’s qawwali said,” Aise Tirange ko sada dil me basaye rakhnaa”. Needless to mention, the patriotic spirit, and desire for peace and harmony were much applauded by the audience, mesmerised as they were by the skill displayed by the participants in a slowly dying art form.
Congratulating all the winners and encouraging other participants, Mr. Sampson David said, “It does not matter who wins, the thing that matters the most is participation. I am thankful to LPU for creating history by organizing such a competition which has revitalized the most popular form of Sufi music ‘Qawwali’- a 700 years old tradition.” He went on to elaborate that a sufi saint Amir Khusrau Dehlavi, had fused together traditions of Indian, Turkish, Persian and Arabic music in the late 13th Century to create the art form of ‘Qawwali’. LPU Director General Er HR Singla thanked all members of AIU and the participating teams for reposing their faith in LPU for the organization of such a traditionally evocative event.
