This is a very special post for several reasons :
1.Once again I am highlighting something Lucknowi
2.Murli Master is known as Shahan Shah e Qawwali and his rendition and style was so impeccable that Nustrat Fateh ali Khan was one his biggest fans
3.Murli Master is a Muslim but his father was called Kanhai Qawwal and his son Raju Qawwal.Typical of Lucknow where all religions have co existed for centuries and so enmeshed that sometimes Hindus feel they half Muslim and the other way round too
4.The tradition is generations old and you can see a younger Raju alongside his Father Murli who is already 80 years old when the recording was done at Firnagi Mahal at Lucknow.
5.Murli eveloved the famous Takraar style of Qawwali singing in which the same bandish is repeated several times with increasing tempo to create a sama for the devotees
6.The family sang only at the Dargah’s and all Qawwalis are in praise of the peer – Khwaja Ajmer Sharif,Khwaja Nijamuddin and Dewa Sharif ..etc.
7.In a typical Oudhi lehza the qawwali’s use urdu as well as Oudhi as a linguistic medium something which can be largely attributed to Amir Khasrau
