Report: Jodhpur RIFF 2024

The Rajasthan International Folk Festival (RIFF) at Jodhpur’s spectacular Mehrangarh Fort attracts music lovers from across India and the world. With its palaces, museums and shrines, the venue holds endless charm for people who like to nerd out on history. But it is also a delight for those who simply enjoy the opulent beauty of red sandstone and night-time views of the city’s skyline.

Held from October 16 to 20 this year, Jodhpur RIFF packed in performances by musicians from every continent on earth. Speaking of the work that went on behind the scenes to put together five days of festivities, festival director Divya Bhatia said: “I travel to listen to artists. I attend numerous showcases and festivals around the world constantly in search of live and visceral music.” This involves interacting with individual artists, groups, managers and agents before zeroing in on the line-up. “I am always excited to sense and find that magical, spiritual energy that flows between the artist and their audience,” he added.

In keeping with its annual tradition, the festival opened with a Bal Mela (children’s fair) held in the morning at the Veer Durga Das Memorial Park to showcase a dazzling variety of folk arts from across Rajasthan such as ghoomer, kathputli, teraah taali, behrupiya, kachchi ghodi, bhapang, and kawa circus. The evening came alive with a grand concert at the Jaswant Thada Parking. Free to attend and open to all, it also served as a curtain raiser with its sprinkling of short acts by performers slated to enthral audiences in the upcoming days.

The itinerary accommodated a varied bunch — listeners who wake up before the crack of dawn, those who like to stay up well past midnight, and people who are ready to sacrifice all sleep for the sake of some really good music in a picturesque setting. They had kulhads of chai and mugs of coffee to keep them going. Others took frequent smoke breaks.

Some of the notable international performers were jazz guitarist Louis Mhlanga from South Africa, the Norwegian band Gabba that draws inspiration from indigenous Sami culture, Mauritian singer and multi-instrumentalist Emlyn Marimutu, whose music pays homage to ancestors forced into slavery, artist and producer ChontaDJ aka Alejandra Gomez, who is a respected name on the Latin American independent music scene, South Korean band Gray by Silver, Estonian folk stars Puuluup, Grammy-winning French composer Eric Mouquet best known for his album Deep Forest, and Canada-based drummer Elli Miller-Maboungou who is of Congolese heritage, and nagara maestro Natig Shirinov from Azerbaijan.

“This is my third time in India. I have performed in Udaipur and Coimbatore before. Coming to India is very special because we have grown up watching Indian films. Hema Malini and Mithun Chakraborty are among my favourite Indian actors,” said Shirinov, and hummed the refrain from the song Khatouba Khatouba sung by Asha Bhonsle for the film Alibaba Aur 40 Chor — an Indo-Soviet co-production directed by Umesh Mehra and Latif Faiziyev.

Jodhpur RIFF also had a fantastic selection of Indian artists this year including Giridhar Udupa whose fingers moved like poetry on the ghatam, Barnali Chattopadhyay whose Sufi renditions were drenched with devotion, the Warsi Brothers whose qawwalis had the audience hungry for more, dancer Aditi Bhagwat who led a Lavani bootcamp, Guru G Venu who presented the Pavakathakali form of glove puppetry, Kapila Venu whose Kutiyattam left many awestruck, Chandana Bala Kalyan who would give any Carnatic purist a fright with her penchant for mixing sounds and styles, Kaluram Bamaniya who sang Kabir bhajans, and Sona Mohapatra who crooned the most beautiful Sambalpuri folk songs but overstayed her welcome by hogging the time reserved for other musicians who had to keep waiting.

Thankfully, there were other musicians who treated the stage with the respect it deserved. Chattopadhyay, for instance, said, “Mujhe is jagah se pyaar ho gaya hai. Yahaan aakar ek sukoon sa mehsoos hota hai. Meri khushnasibi hai ki mujhe yeh mauka mila.” (I have fallen in love with this place. I feel at peace when I come here. It is my good fortune that I have got this opportunity.) The humility in her words, despite her stature as a musician, was touching.

Given Rajasthan’s fine international reputation for its artistic traditions, there was a substantial contingent of musicians, dancers and storytellers from the home state including Meherdeen Khan Langa, Idu Khan, Sadiq Khan, Asin Khan, Zakir Khan, Sumitra Das Goswami, Maewa Sapera, Mamta Sapera, Prem Dangi, Hanifa Manganiyar, Kamla Bhatt, Barkat Khan, Hakim Khan, Ghevar Khan, Darre Khan, Devu Khan, Firoze Khan, Mohini Devi, Sawai Khan, Bundu Khan Langa, Dilip Bhatt, Dayam Khan, and Dilshad Khan.

This year’s itinerary was also memorable thanks to a set of two films made by journalist and filmmaker Simon Broughton, who was present to interact with audience members after the screenings. Both films looked at the intersection of music with politics.

The first one, Sufi Soul: The Mystic Music of Islam, explored how Sufi music which is edifying and soothing for Muslims in India, Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, Morocco is considered sinful and un-Islamic by orthodox adherents of the faith.

The second film, Breaking the Silence: The Music of Afghanistan, which was shot in 2002, traced the suppression of Afghan musical traditions under the Taliban regime and the freedom that musicians experienced when their rule ended. Little did the Afghans know that the Taliban would return.

Broughton, who lives in the United Kingdom, said, “What interests me about what we call ‘world music’ is that it is part of life. It does not exist in some sort of vacuum. It is deeply intertwined with social issues and cultural questions, with religion, politics, and with protest.”

The audience was a good mix of regulars and first-time visitors. When people show up year after year at the same music festival, and brag about the number of times they have been there, that says something about the quality of programming and how it makes them feel. It also keeps the organizers from becoming complacent, and pushes them to up their game.

One hopes that future editions of the festival will also give the audience a chance to learn more about the diverse musical instruments and their histories, the process of making them and the materials used, the kind of training that goes into playing them, and much more, through interactive exhibits displayed at the venue during the course of the entire festival.

The organizers could also be more creative with the food stalls. In the spirit of facilitating a deeper connection with Rajasthani culture, it might be a good idea to introduce delicacies from various parts of the state — especially those that are rarely available in restaurants but are a staple in home kitchens and at community gatherings. This kind of knowledge sharing, done in a thoughtful and experiential way, could be a valuable addition to the much-loved festival.

Chintan Girish Modi is a Mumbai-based journalist who writes about books, art and culture. He can be reached @chintanwriting on Instagram and X.