For more details visit www.totalpeacemission.com / www.isfifestival.com
Friday, August 31, 2012
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
International Sufi Festival 2012
For details: www.internationalsufifestival.com
Website: www.sufipaintings.com
International Sufi Festival India
Website: www.isfiajmer.com
Website: www.sufipaintings.com
International Sufi Festival India
Website: www.isfiajmer.com
Saturday, August 25, 2012
ISFI Awards Sufi Arts and Culture Awards Recognize Best in field.
The New ISFI Award will recognize the best in Sufi arts, culture and creativity. It has developed the awards in order to raise the profile of our dynamic cultural community and provide local individuals and organizations with well deserved recognition.
A total of eleven awards will be presented in the following categories:
Award will be given based on the eligibility of a individual.
1. ISFI Award for Performing Arts- Sufi Vocal - Individual Artist/ Group, Sufi Dance – Individual / Organisation,
2. ISFI Visual Arts & Gallery- Sufi Art, Islamic Calligraphy, Structural Abstracts
3. ISFI Literary Award – for Sufi Books/ Literature / Authors/ Poetry
4. ISFI Film Award – For Sufi Films, Documentary, Music Video,
5. ISFI Cultural Patron – Outstanding Service to the ISFI Festival or Individual/Organization
6. ISFI Platinum Sponsor – The Highest Contribution and sincere support to the ISFI Festival. (The decision of the Chairperson will be final. The Award will be decided based on certain criteria. )
"I think these awards can have a significant impact on bringing to light some of the many talented and hardworking individuals and organizations that sincerely support and contribute so much to the strength of ISFI Festivals cultural area. The ISFI Festival will continue to be a commemorative spiritual Tribute to the Blessed Saint Hazrath Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty (R. A) and the universal teachings of the Blessed Saint in the present disturbed times. Every Part of the ISFI Festival will be in Honour of Khwaja Saab" says Begum Gulsha, Chairperson Divine Abode.
The awards will be presented on the evening of Thursday, October 11th, 2012 as part of the gala closing of the 7 long day of the annual ISFI festival being held at Ajmer, Rajasthan. Award winners will be profiled on our website and the winner in each category will be presented with an original piece of Trophy specially designed and created for the ISFI Awards.
Send in your nominations for the ISFI Sufi Awards. The deadline for nominations is September 20, 2012 at 5:00 PM.
Divine Abode encourages everyone in the community to be a part of the 7 long day of ISFI festival from 4th – 11th Oct, 2012 at Ajmer, India. All event entry will be free. Festival details can be found at www.internationalsufifestival.com
Website: www.sufipaintings.com
International Sufi Festival India
Website: www.isfiajmer.com
A total of eleven awards will be presented in the following categories:
Award will be given based on the eligibility of a individual.
1. ISFI Award for Performing Arts- Sufi Vocal - Individual Artist/ Group, Sufi Dance – Individual / Organisation,
2. ISFI Visual Arts & Gallery- Sufi Art, Islamic Calligraphy, Structural Abstracts
3. ISFI Literary Award – for Sufi Books/ Literature / Authors/ Poetry
4. ISFI Film Award – For Sufi Films, Documentary, Music Video,
5. ISFI Cultural Patron – Outstanding Service to the ISFI Festival or Individual/Organization
6. ISFI Platinum Sponsor – The Highest Contribution and sincere support to the ISFI Festival. (The decision of the Chairperson will be final. The Award will be decided based on certain criteria. )
"I think these awards can have a significant impact on bringing to light some of the many talented and hardworking individuals and organizations that sincerely support and contribute so much to the strength of ISFI Festivals cultural area. The ISFI Festival will continue to be a commemorative spiritual Tribute to the Blessed Saint Hazrath Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty (R. A) and the universal teachings of the Blessed Saint in the present disturbed times. Every Part of the ISFI Festival will be in Honour of Khwaja Saab" says Begum Gulsha, Chairperson Divine Abode.
The awards will be presented on the evening of Thursday, October 11th, 2012 as part of the gala closing of the 7 long day of the annual ISFI festival being held at Ajmer, Rajasthan. Award winners will be profiled on our website and the winner in each category will be presented with an original piece of Trophy specially designed and created for the ISFI Awards.
Send in your nominations for the ISFI Sufi Awards. The deadline for nominations is September 20, 2012 at 5:00 PM.
Divine Abode encourages everyone in the community to be a part of the 7 long day of ISFI festival from 4th – 11th Oct, 2012 at Ajmer, India. All event entry will be free. Festival details can be found at www.internationalsufifestival.com
Website: www.sufipaintings.com
International Sufi Festival India
Website: www.isfiajmer.com
Monday, August 20, 2012
The Desert - A Spiritual Retreat KHALWAH
A perfect setting for deepened, renewed inner life, but it can as easily be life-threatening. It demands decisions, choices, and we have to make the right ones or our lives are in danger. One is stripped down to essentials. It is a place where one cannot hide from one's own truth. The place of the greatest closeness to God and spiritual sense is never a place to stay. It is a situation to go through…you journey on and out.
The desert has a strong relationship with spiritual quests. The desert itself invokes images of a vast expanse, where man may be alone to commune with the higher power and forces of nature. For the Sufi poet Rumi, poetry about the desert was an allegory for a spiritual quest of the Soul journeying into the infinite. The desert is a dry, dusty, desolate place. The tradition of desert connotes caves, silence, solitude and a withdrawal from people. It offers a place for inner reflection and contemplation to encounter our relationship with Almighty and self.
The desert experience is our spiritual purification for a new life of freedom and love in the land that God will show us. Here we seek to discover new spiritual energy from the depths of our own hearts, which are like a hidden oasis planted there by God. Meaning makes life worth living. To accept the desert experience, one must let go of over-control and let things unfold with inner truth revealing new meanings and the deepening of the mystery of life. The desert experience lays bare one's inner emptiness, detaches one and can simplify a person's life down to the bare essentials.
In emptiness, the truth of one's own inner poverty and wretchedness leads one to total dependence on Creation. The desert experience along with an intense hunger and thirst for the creator alone, is a normal development in spiritual life.
"In the Desert of the heart,
Let the healing start;
In the prison of his days,
Teach the free man to praise."
- W.H.Auden
The Desert is the Spiritual Retreat for a Sufi also known as KHALWAH. The literal meaning of khalwah is seclusion . It is the act of total self-abandonment in desire for the Divine Presence. In complete seclusion, the Sufi continuously repeats the name of God as a highest form of dhikr (remembrance of God meditation). and passes through the various stages in the Desert Experience.
Ibn Arabi suggested: "The Sufi should shut his door against the world for forty days and occupy himself with remembrance of Allah, that is to keep repeating, "Allah, Allah..." Then, "Almighty God will spread before him the degrees of the kingdom as a test. First, He will discover the secrets of the mineral world. If he occupies himself with dthikr, He (God) will unveil to the secrets of the vegetable world, then the secrets of the animal world, then the infusion of the world of life-force into lives, then the "surface sign" (the light of the Divine Names, according to Abdul-Karim al-Jeeli, the book's translator), then the degrees of speculative sciences, then the world of formation and adornment and beauty, then the degrees of the qutb .. Then he will be given the divine wisdom and the power of symbols and authority over the veil and the unveiling. The degree of the Divine Presence is made clear to him, the garden (of Eden) and Hell are revealed to him, then the original forms of the son of Adam, the Throne of Mercy. If it is appropriate, he will know his destination. Then he will reveal to him the Pen, the First Intellect (as it is called by Sufi philosophers), then the Mover of the Pen, the right hand of the Truth. (The "Truth" as defined by al-Jeeli is that by which everything is created, none other than God most High.)
The practice of khalwah is regularly followed by the Sufis. The Sufis base the assigning of forty days of khalwa period on the forty days Allah had appointed for Musa (Moses) as a fasting period before speaking to him, as mentioned in different chapters in the Qur'an. One of them is from surat al-Baqarah.
The Desert also serves as a trope, a symbolic space suggesting, on the one hand, unfamiliarity, risk, danger, absence, loss and, on the other, the unexpectedness of encounter, the surprise of revelation, the promise of renewal and transformation. Just as deserts are hazardous places of pilgrimage, meeting, and testing, they are likewise regions that occasion opportunities for repair, strengthening, fresh beginnings, hope. The role of desert and wilderness is pervasive in the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This oscillation between place and space that is desert opens up promising avenues for exploration...
P.S. For Assistance---please email us directly. Thank you!
The desert has a strong relationship with spiritual quests. The desert itself invokes images of a vast expanse, where man may be alone to commune with the higher power and forces of nature. For the Sufi poet Rumi, poetry about the desert was an allegory for a spiritual quest of the Soul journeying into the infinite. The desert is a dry, dusty, desolate place. The tradition of desert connotes caves, silence, solitude and a withdrawal from people. It offers a place for inner reflection and contemplation to encounter our relationship with Almighty and self.
The desert experience is our spiritual purification for a new life of freedom and love in the land that God will show us. Here we seek to discover new spiritual energy from the depths of our own hearts, which are like a hidden oasis planted there by God. Meaning makes life worth living. To accept the desert experience, one must let go of over-control and let things unfold with inner truth revealing new meanings and the deepening of the mystery of life. The desert experience lays bare one's inner emptiness, detaches one and can simplify a person's life down to the bare essentials.
In emptiness, the truth of one's own inner poverty and wretchedness leads one to total dependence on Creation. The desert experience along with an intense hunger and thirst for the creator alone, is a normal development in spiritual life.
"In the Desert of the heart,
Let the healing start;
In the prison of his days,
Teach the free man to praise."
- W.H.Auden
The Desert is the Spiritual Retreat for a Sufi also known as KHALWAH. The literal meaning of khalwah is seclusion . It is the act of total self-abandonment in desire for the Divine Presence. In complete seclusion, the Sufi continuously repeats the name of God as a highest form of dhikr (remembrance of God meditation). and passes through the various stages in the Desert Experience.
Ibn Arabi suggested: "The Sufi should shut his door against the world for forty days and occupy himself with remembrance of Allah, that is to keep repeating, "Allah, Allah..." Then, "Almighty God will spread before him the degrees of the kingdom as a test. First, He will discover the secrets of the mineral world. If he occupies himself with dthikr, He (God) will unveil to the secrets of the vegetable world, then the secrets of the animal world, then the infusion of the world of life-force into lives, then the "surface sign" (the light of the Divine Names, according to Abdul-Karim al-Jeeli, the book's translator), then the degrees of speculative sciences, then the world of formation and adornment and beauty, then the degrees of the qutb .. Then he will be given the divine wisdom and the power of symbols and authority over the veil and the unveiling. The degree of the Divine Presence is made clear to him, the garden (of Eden) and Hell are revealed to him, then the original forms of the son of Adam, the Throne of Mercy. If it is appropriate, he will know his destination. Then he will reveal to him the Pen, the First Intellect (as it is called by Sufi philosophers), then the Mover of the Pen, the right hand of the Truth. (The "Truth" as defined by al-Jeeli is that by which everything is created, none other than God most High.)
The practice of khalwah is regularly followed by the Sufis. The Sufis base the assigning of forty days of khalwa period on the forty days Allah had appointed for Musa (Moses) as a fasting period before speaking to him, as mentioned in different chapters in the Qur'an. One of them is from surat al-Baqarah.
The Desert also serves as a trope, a symbolic space suggesting, on the one hand, unfamiliarity, risk, danger, absence, loss and, on the other, the unexpectedness of encounter, the surprise of revelation, the promise of renewal and transformation. Just as deserts are hazardous places of pilgrimage, meeting, and testing, they are likewise regions that occasion opportunities for repair, strengthening, fresh beginnings, hope. The role of desert and wilderness is pervasive in the scriptures of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This oscillation between place and space that is desert opens up promising avenues for exploration...
P.S. For Assistance---please email us directly. Thank you!
Sunday, August 12, 2012
International Sufi Film Festival- 2012
the heart realises its true nature and its immense source. 'Haal' or
whirling is a soothing experience, which takes the viewer to a
different world. A World which revolves around the thought of Oneness
with God and how to achieve it through devotion and love. The
International Sufi Festival 2012 will bring in the experience through
the visual world of Sufi Films & Documentary.
The ISFF ( International Sufi Film festival ) will take the viewer
towards a Search in Depth, to the God of All and others, narrating
this theme thru the expression of Sufi Films & Music Vedios's.
Ms Begum , Festival Director says "My aim is to promote one God in the
creation through my works." The Festival is more of my journey towards
the Reality and my sincere devotion brings in the inspiration and the
confidence from the source itself. I follow my visions without
questioning. The concept of the ISFI does not belong to me. It belongs
to the individuals who are working towards the festival. the
organizing team of the festival have worked very hard towards the
making of the festival this year . Perhaps this will bring the desired
result to the volunteers and our partners in all their endeavors.
ISFI 2012 will bring in Sufi Films and Sufi Literature as part of the
Mega Festival this year.As a series of the ISFI project, sufi films
will be screened on all days at 12 pm at the audio visual room, AL
IKHLAS GALLERY.
ISFI invites like minded people to come forward and participate in this festival
There are three categories of films that will be exhibited at the festival:
1. Short films –
2. Feature films –
3. Music videos based on Aarifaana/sufi kalaam (Sufi poetry) or Naa't
– e – Sharif – Duration less than 7 minutes
The theme for all above categories is Sufism and Propagating the
message of universal peace & oneness.
For information: www.internationalsufifestival.com
International Sufi Festival India 2012
Sunday, August 12, 2012 01:12:21 PM
Ajmer - International Sufi festival( ISFI) will highlight the
Traditional Classical Sama of the Indian Sub Continent at the
forthcoming festival to be held in October at Ajmer. The event
organised by Divine Abode. The heavenly music will touch the soul
transcending the audience in the wonderful spiritual atmosphere. The 7
day long celebration of Art & Culture will be led by the highly
acclaimed groups. The groups will be led by Sabri Brothers, Ahmed
Warsi Brothers, Nizami Brothers, Ateeq Hussain Khan and the
Traditional Chishtiya Sufi Ensemble will perform with the aim of
bringing in a high-quality performance this year. The festival will
aim at reviving the ancient art once more as part of the mission and
the aim of the ISFI .
Most Artist performing this year have performed in various other parts
of the world. They specialise in performing outstanding samples of
classical Sufi music and Kalaam.
The roots of Qawwali can be traced back to 8th century Persia (today's
Iran and Afghanistan). During the first major migration from Persia,
in the 11th century, the musical tradition of Sema migrated to South
Asia, Turkey and Uzbekistan. Amir Khusro Dehelvi of the Chisti order
of Sufis is credited with fusing the Persian and Indian musical
traditions to create Qawwali as we know it today in the late 13th
century in India. The word Sama is often still used in Central Asia
and Turkey to refer to forms very similar to Qawwali, and in India,
Pakistan and Bangladesh, the formal name used for a session of Qawwali
is Mehfil-e-Sama.
International Sufi Festival began as a Spiritual Tribute to the
Blessed Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty ( R. A ). Thus the
festival came as part of the International Festival for Sufi Music in
the country. Other International group will perform along with other
performances by renowned groups of the Sub Continient.
Sufiana Kalaam on Sitar by Sitar Maestro Dr Sudeep Rai, Sufi Kathak by
Manisha Gulyani, Sufi Fusion by Rishi Inc, Sufi Jugalbandi by Roohani
Sisters, Sufiana Kalaam on Amir Khusro ( Vocal) by Vaishali Rai will
be a part of the Sama from 5th – 11th October 2012 in the holy city.
" The concept of ISFI by Begum Gulshaa is a philosophical thought.
What inspired me was the thought and her true devotion towards the
Mission and the aim of the festival. The festival includes Sufi
paintings, Sufi Literature, Sufi Films is definitely a huge
achievement. Being a part of ISFI is rather a honor to me and I take
this as my Tribute to Khwaja Saab for all that I have received from
Khwaja Saab in the last couple of years of my devotion to the blessed
saint ." Says Retiwalla the presenter of the ISFI 2012.
International Sufi Festival India
www.isfiajmer.com
www.internationalsufifestival.com
Monday, August 6, 2012
Ajmer set to host the 2nd Edition of International Sufi Festival India
Sufi Music, Poetry, Dance , Paintings, Films and Literature - ISFI 2012
Spirituality finds a very different manifestation in the annual festival of the Sufi culture in Ajmer, Rajasthan.
The 2nd edition of the International Sufi Festival India continues to be a commemorative fiesta to the honor of the Sufi Saint Hazrath Khwaja Moinuddin Chishty. The stunning concepts and symbolic messages merging with the soothing music and dance makes it a must visit..
Ms Gulshaa Begum, Chairperson Divine Abode is known for her contributions in the field of Sufi Art & Culture and commitment to serve for the social cause through festivals and Art Exhibitions in Ajmer.
Isfi is today Regarded as one of the spectacular event with a strong visual appeal. The Festival is a true crowd puller as thousands of people gather here to be a part of the 7 day event.
The essence of sufism includes the unification of the human soul with the Ultimate through the medium of sufi music. As a result, this mega festival abounds in music and dance performances by the dervishes (ascetic Muslim monk). The harmonious dance and melodious music joins hand to create a sublime atmosphere in the entire air.
This year ISFI will bring in Sufi Films & Sufi Literature as part of the ongoing event. Sufi Films will be screened on all days at the newly developed audio visual room Al Ikhlas gallery. The Sufi Literature exhibition will showcase books from various author. There will be around 30 films that will be screened throughout the festival and 250 books from various authors. More than 300 works of Art in varied Media will be showcased at the Al Ikhlas Gallery. Art works of Sufi Shrines of the World, Whirling Dervishes, Islamic Calligraphy, Abstract Sacred Art, Miniatures, Mystical Landscape and many more.
Gulshaa Begum, Chairperson Divine Abode also the Festival Director is a creative artist too. She will unveil her collection of art work with the theme of deserts and mountains this season for the festival.
Ms Begum says ' We have joined hands with Marwah Studio for the Sufi Film Festival to be a part of the ISFI 2012. Sufi Literature from various authors will be another addition this year.
ISFI will focus and highlight the traditional Sama of South Asia " Qawwali. And continue to do so in future too in keeping up the original essence of the festival in Honor of the Blessed Sufi Saint of the Ajmer Shariff Dargah' says Dr Sudeep Rai
Get ready to be a part of a spiritual journey that is superbly rich in artistic value and touch. This unique concept of attaining the divine with music and dance is something that needs to be explored and felt
Rang - e - Raqs
Sufi paintings, Films & Literature
Date: 4th to 11th Oct 2012
Time: 11am – 6 pm
Venue: Al Ikhlas Gallery
Sufi Films will be screened at 12 pm at the audio visual room Al Ikhlas gallery
Sema - The Sufi Music Concert
Date: 5th to 11th Oct 2012
Time: 6 pm onwards
Venue: ( will be updated). Kindly carry your ID Card along with you.
Date: 4th to 11th Oct 2012
Time: 11am – 6 pm
Venue: Al Ikhlas Gallery
Sufi Films will be screened at 12 pm at the audio visual room Al Ikhlas gallery
Sema - The Sufi Music Concert
Date: 5th to 11th Oct 2012
Time: 6 pm onwards
Venue: ( will be updated). Kindly carry your ID Card along with you.
All entry free for all concerts on all days
Seating on first come first serve
For more details log on to our website
www.sufipaintings.com
www.isfiajmer.com
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