Music, when it becomes a vessel for devotion, has the power to dissolve time. Recently, Ragini Rainu’s concert Mysticism of India, presented by SaMaPa (Sopori Academy of Music and Performing Arts), transported the audience into a realm where every note whispered ancient secrets and every rhythm echoed with spiritual longing.
Ragini, known as the “Mystic Songstress,” is a torchbearer of the Sopori-Sufiana Gharana of Kashmir, nurtured under the guidance of Santoor virtuoso Pandit Bhajan Sopori ji. Her voice is rare-at once commanding and tender-capable of unraveling the layered intricacies of Sufi ang, Ghazal, and Bhakti Kafi. She imbues each composition with bhava and tayari, making centuries-old poetry feel immediate, intimate, and deeply human.
Opening with her rendition of Sant Kabir’s “Yugan Yugan Yogi”, Ragini set a tone that was devotional yet exuberant. She moved effortlessly through works by Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Baba Bulle Shah, Hazrat Amir Khusro, and the timeless “Chap Tilak”, allowing each phrase to breathe and resonate. Accompanied by Balram Sisodia (Tabla), Chanchal Singh (Dholak), Lalit Sisodia (Harmonium), Shambu Sisodia (Sarangi), and Raag Yaman (Flute), the ensemble created a sonic drapery that seemed to float above the ordinary, letting the audience inhabit the music rather than hear it.
The atmosphere was steeped in reverence, yet punctuated with bursts of ecstatic joy, as if the hall itself had become a living instrument. It was a night where mysticism was not merely performed but lived, an evening of music that stayed long after the last note faded. As the final notes of the concert faded, one could sense that something ineffable had transpired. The audience seemed to carry the music within them, an inner resonance that would not fade with the lights. Ragini Rainu had not only performed; she had conjured a space where history, devotion, and human emotion converged.