Rediscovering the Cultural Heritage of Mumbai Through Live Music

Imagine the imposing interiors of one of the finest Neo Gothic Victorian heritage structure in&nbspMumbai &ndash The Convocation Hall at the Fort campus of the University of&nbspMumbai, with soulful Indian classical music transporting you to an ethereal world of bliss. If you think that this sublime visual is just a figment of imagination, then think again. The music & heritage lovers will get an opportunity to witness a phenomenal virtual event as The Indian Heritage Society-&nbspMumbai (IHS) presents the 29th Edition of their theme &lsquoUse Live Music to Save Heritage', starting from 10th April 2021, in the form of &lsquoMumbai&nbspSanskriti&rsquo Music Festival at the Convocation Hall at the&nbspUniversity of&nbspMumbai supported by the Maharashtra Tourism and curated by Northern Lights.

The festival is aimed at increasing awareness of the rich heritage of&nbspMumbai&nbspusing live music. This year, &rsquoMumbai&nbspSanskriti&rsquo is organized inside the magnificent Convocation Hall whose Victorian stain glass windows, Burma teak balconies & furniture, intricate grill work and Minton tiles add grandeur to this 19th&nbspcentury architectural structure. The Convocation Hall received the UNESCO Asia Pacific Award for heritage conservation in 2007 & in the same year received the Indian Heritage Society (Mumbai) Award.

Celebrating the richness of our culture, this year, the &lsquoMumbai&nbspSanskriti&nbsp2021&rsquo music festival is presented in four digital concerts-&nbspexclusively streamed on the official YouTube channel of Indian Heritage Society-Mumbai&nbspand will be available digitally to all music & heritage enthusiasts.

1.   &nbspVirtual Concert One on 10th April 2021 at 7 PM (IST) - Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma (Santoor)

2.   &nbspVirtual Concert Two&nbspon 17th April 2021 at 7 PM (IST) &ndash Radhika Sood Nayak (Sufi)

3.   &nbspVirtual Concert Three&nbspon 24th April 2021 at 7 PM (IST) - Fazal Qureshi (Tabla)

4.   &nbspVirtual Concert Four&nbspon 1st May 2021 at 7 PM (IST) - Dr. Ashwini Bhide Deshpande (Vocal)

The Indian Heritage Society-Mumbai&nbsphas been organizing this landmark festival since 1992, using culture and &lsquoLive Music to Save Heritage&rsquo.&nbspThe initiation was at the heritage precinct of Banganga tank, Walkeshwar. Later, this festival was moved to the Asiatic Library Steps because of a High Court Order against noise pollution and was renamed &lsquoMumbai&nbspSanskriti&rsquo from 'Banganga Festival'.

Speaking about it,&nbspAnita Garware, Chairperson, Indian Heritage Society &ndash&nbspMumbai&nbspsaid, "Our heritage, culture, traditions are parts of a venerable lineage, which should be conserved. The event is an effort towards this cause, so that we can save and celebrate&nbspMumbai's heritage through art, architecture and music."

Commenting on the festival, Dr. Dhananjay Sawalkar, Director of Directorate of Tourism, said, &ldquoMaharashtra holds the maximum numbers of UNESCO World Heritage Sites among all States and Union Territories&nbspin&nbspIndia which shows the State&rsquos rich cultural diversity and heritage. &rsquoMumbai&nbspSanskriti&rsquo festival is an excellent initiative to showcase and promote the richness of our&nbspculture and we are proud to partner with it.&rdquo

The event is jointly sponsored by HSBC and Tata Consultancy Services. The four virtual concerts will be digitally accessible to everyone who loves music, lives for cultural legacy and longs for its preservation.

For more details contact Indian Heritage Society,&nbspMumbai (Ph 9920622480).