Across the vast landscape of Indian devotional thought, love has remained its most enduring and transformative metaphor. Mystics and poets across centuries turned to the language of yearning, separation, surrender, and ecstatic union to articulate the human relationship with the divine. In these traditions, the beloved is at once earthly and transcendent, personal and cosmic, collapsing the boundaries between the sacred and the intimate.

This poetic inheritance has always found its most resonant expression in music. Manuscripts, anthologies, and oral traditions reveal how verses from the Sufi and Bhakti canons were intrinsically linked to specific ragas, seasons, and song forms, allowing philosophy and emotion to be experienced through sound. Whether through the playfulness of hori, the swing of jhoolna, or the introspection of khayal and thumri, these compositions transform metaphysical ideas into living, breathing musical experiences.

Royal Opera House, Mumbai and Avid Learning present ‘Aalam-e-Ishq: A Celebration of Love Poetry from the Sufi-Bhakti Traditions’, a special concert marking the return of acclaimed vocalist Padma Shri Shubha Mudgal to the Opera House stage. Drawing on her deep grounding in Hindustani music and long-standing engagement with textual traditions, the performance offers a nuanced exploration of ishq, love in its many spiritual, emotional, and philosophical dimensions. She is accompanied by a versatile ensemble including Aneesh Pradhan (Tabla), Sudhir Nayak (Harmonium), and Siddharth Padiyar (Dholak).

The repertoire weaves together compositions that illuminate different perspectives on love and devotion, featuring timeless verses such as Hazrat Amir Khusrau’s Jab yaar dekha nain bhar, dil ki gayi chinta utar, and Abdul Hadi ‘Kavish’’s Ghazab dhaa gayo tore naina Murari, among others. Each piece reflects how poetry and melody together give voice to longing, surrender, and transcendence, situating these works within both their historical contexts and their continued relevance today.

Both Shubha Mudgal and Aneesh Pradhan are no strangers to the Avid Learning and Royal Opera House, Mumbai stage. Their previous appearances, including the September 2025 performance Paavas Prasang that celebrated monsoon-inspired compositions, Living Traditions, a Hindustani classical concert curated by Shubha Mudgal herself to mark the Mumbai debut of the Serendipity Arts Festival in 2017, as well as Tehzeeb-e-Tawaif, a powerful exploration of courtesan culture that featured her in conversation. Aneesh Pradhan, too, brought his unique insights to Multipolis Mumbai: Music and Our City, a panel discussion that explored the evolving independent music scene of Mumbai and the 2023 Mumbai Cultural Tracker, Cultural Confluences: Empowering Creative Industries of the Future, organized as part of the Culture Working Group under India’s G20 Presidency.

The Royal Opera House, Mumbai, with its rich history and grandeur, constantly strives to present the classic, diverse, and contemporary genres, attracting music lovers of all ages and backgrounds by bringing in leading musicians, maestros, composers, conductors, vocalists, and virtuosos from around the country and across the globe to the maximum city! Being India’s only surviving Opera House, it recognizes the importance of leveraging the stage to showcase the eternal beauty and skill of our traditional performing arts while also exposing the audiences to multidisciplinary cross-genre fusions and collaborations.

Join for an evening celebrating love in its many shades, brought to life through the enduring dialogue of Sufi-Bhakti poetry and Hindustani music.

Details:

Where: Royal Opera House, Mama Parmanand Marg, Mumbai

When: Thursday, 12th February 2026, 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Tickets: www.bookmyshow.com (Rs. 899 onwards)