amritpyala

Amrit Pyala

amrit pyala is a film archive of Sufi and Bhakti poetry in Pakistan.

we record and translate the bhajans and kalaams of poet-saints like Mirabai, Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai, Kabir Das, Shah Hussain, Baba Farid, Bulleh Shah, and other mystics.

this project was inspired by Ajab Shahar/The Kabir Project.

we have recorded folk musicians like Shah ja faqir, Bhagat Bhoora Lal, Jiyan Bai Bhagtani, and Zainab Bibi.

you can listen to these recordings on our YouTube.

Sufi and Bhakti oral tradition is a river that cannot be caught—never fully. our project concerns itself with chand katre, some drops of this surging, thrilling, threatening river. 

when we film, we walk with the land. as the mystic poets say, we understand that the road is our main guide.

this work, the faqirs at Bhit Shah have taught us, has to be a practice of devotion.

we devote ourselves to the land by paying witness to the myths and stories sung upon it.

we devote ourselves to the road, by listening to what is still alive and repeated upon it.

we listen for sacred songs, songs deemed sacred by those who sing them everyday, songs that have travelled across region, caste, and language, from Kutch to Mirpurkhas, from Mirabai’s bhajans to Bhittai’s raags.

mystic poetry asks seekers to Listen! Listen!

through Amrit Pyala, we listen to the land, and position ourselves as foragers in the poetic landscape. we record what comes our way, and collect it in our carrier bags. our archive is a receptacle, a cup–a pyala. 

Photos from the road