MUMBAI: The much loved and awaited World Sufi Music Festival: Jahan-e-Khusrau, founded by Muzaffar Ali and held under the aegis of Rumi Foundation returned after a three-year hiatus to New Delhi’s Arab Ki Serai on the weekend of 24 to 26 March 2017.

Founded by artist, thinker, filmmaker and culture aficionado, Muzaffar Ali, Jahan-e-Khusrau got this new lease of life under the generous patronage of D.S. Puri Foundation lead by Nina Puri. A not for profit organization dedicated to promoting Indian culture, the foundation will back the festival, helping it to bring alive the finest voices in Sufism today.

The festival was dedicated to Hazrat Baba Fariduddin Ganjshakar the patron Saint of the Punjab and the Pir of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. The finale witnessed performance by renowned singer Daler Mehndi, who was honoured with the Rumi Award for Oneness, a sculpture made by Muzaffar Ali.

Speaking on the award Muzaffar Ali said, "There are millions of awards in this universe. So how could I make my Award different? Firstly to align it with our mission of promoting the oneness of the human race through one's art forms and secondly to make it a very personal artistic statement of using a cypress tree sculpted by me and cast in metal. This idea was born as I sat with Daler Mehndi listening to the shlokas of Baba Farid so deeply entrenched in his soul and voice. The tree took form as a resonance of Baba Farid words of submission and surrender to the Divine. I hope this Award will be different to many other Awards and will inspire the recipients to continue to serve the world with their talent. I wish Daler Mehdi a long life to spread this message of Oneness."

Elated recipient of the Rumi Award of Oneness singer Daler Mehndi said, "When you are asked by someone like Muzaffar Sahab, who himself is drenched in the love of the Supreme to perform the songs of the soul; you immediately resonate with it. Jahan-e-Khusrau is one such platform created by him, under the aegis of Rumi Foundation that threads together the performers, musicians, lyricists, nature, space and the audience in a chord for oneness.

“My association with Jahan-e-Khusrau started eight years back and last night with the divine blessings of Baba Guru Nanak Dev Ji, I felt blessed invoking the spirit of Sufi pioneer- Baba Sheikh Farid Ji through his words of truthful living at the historical ruins of Arab Ki Sarai, in the blessed neighbourhood of Dargah of Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya. It has been the most humbling experience to receive the First World Sufi Music Award ‘Rumi Award for Oneness’ designed created and crafted by Muzaffar Sahab. My musical journey is being blessed by the Supreme whether it is Pop music or Bollywood, Gurbani and now Sufi, I am grateful to the Divine for appreciating and blessing it all."

The festival supported by Government of Delhi, Airports Authority of India, DS Puri Foundation, ICCR, Central Park, The Ashok Hotel, Coca-Cola and Bisleri, promoted the age-old culture of India and celebrated the commonality of faiths where Shaivism, Krishna-Bhakti, Sikhism, Sufism and Buddhism find a reflection of their philosophies in each other.