Darbar Festival 2012

London's Southbank Centre hosts a weekend of Indian classical music and culture

London's Southbank Centre hosted Darbar Festival 2012 from September 27 to 30 - a weekend of Indian music, talks, food and yoga. The festival showcased some of the country's most acclaimed classical musicians, many appearing for the first time in the UK.

Taking its inspiration from the darbar, an audience chamber in the Maharaja's court where guests listened to music, narrations and discussions, the festival transformed Southbank Centre's Purcell Room with the sounds of Hindustani and Carnatic vocal and instrumental traditions. Performed during 14 concerts were instruments including the sitar, tabla, surshingar, surbahar, pakhawaj, as well as those more recognisable to a Western audience, such as the bansuri (flute/recorder) and the violin.

Performers included violin duo The Mysore Brothers, one of India’s only female classical pakhawaj soloists Chitrangana Agle-Reshwal, flute master Pandit Rajendra Prasanna, seventh generation sitar player Ustad Shujaat Khan, and tabla star Pandit Swapan Chaudhuri.

Further concerts will take place nationwide. Click here for details.

All photos © Mark McNulty

Click the first image to launch the gallery below: