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Qawwali

A Qawwali song which is particularly popular some parts of India, Pakistan and South Asia is a type of Sufi devotional music. The Qawwali songs can be traced to traditional music that dates more than seven hundred years ago. Most of the Qawwali songs are primarily composed in Punjabi, Hindi or Urdu.

The Qawwali songs are composed of eight or nine men with the inclusion of the leader. The performance is either by one or two harmoniums or singers and percussion. The harmoniums can be played by either the side singer, the lead singer or any other person. The performance of the Qawwali involves the player's singers sitting in tow rows in close-legged. At the front row are harmonium players, the side singers, and the lead singer while the percussionists and the chorus do sit in the back row. The Qawwali songs are structured in such a way that they are between 15 or 30 minutes in length. However, the Hashr Ke Roz Yeh Poochhunga Qawwali was the longest commercial Qawwali whose performance went to slightly above 115 minutes. The Qawwali songs are designed and structured for a spiritual purpose only. However, the lyrics at times take the sound of outright hedonistic or secular songs. 

Qawwali, is a form of urdu poetry read along with devotional music, A Qawwali is almost always dedicated to particular Sufi.



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