‘Songs Of The Stone’ Returns To Qutub Minar With Grammy Winner Rakesh Chaurasia

The iconic Qutub Minar, initiated by the founder of the Delhi Sultanate, Qutb ud-Din Aibak, near the end of the 12th century CE, marked the beginning of the Islamic conquest of India. Although Aibak died before the construction was completed, later rulers of Delhi — Aibak’s son-in-law Iltutmish, Firuz Shah Tughlaq, and Sher Shah Suri — continued to build the minaret and its surrounding complex. Today, the Qutub Minar and the Qutb complex comprise a UNESCO world heritage site in Mehrauli, the historic capital of the Mamluk dynasty.

On Sunday, 8 March 2026, the monumental courtyard of Qutub Minar will transform into a living stage for music as ‘Songs of the Stone’, the immersive heritage series returns for its second edition. Presented by Inkpot India — an art and culture startup founded by Simar Malhotra — in collaboration with HSBC under the HSBC Live the Legacy initiative, the evening will feature a performance by two-time Grammy-winning bansuri virtuoso Rakesh Chaurasia and his ensemble, ‘Rakesh & Friends’. Set against the soaring medieval tower and the atmospheric ruins of the Qutub complex, the performance promises a rare convergence of music, architecture, and history.

Known for his expressive phrasing and technical mastery, Chaurasia — nephew and disciple of the legendary Hariprasad Chaurasia, and a two-time Grammy winner — has built a reputation for expanding the sonic possibilities of the bansuri, a bamboo transverse flute from north India, beyond traditional Hindustani classical frameworks. His music often moves fluidly between classical ragas, improvisations, and contemporary world music influences.

“When Simar first told me about her vision for this chapter of ‘Songs of the Stone’ at the Qutub Minar, all of us at Rakesh & Friends felt an immediate spark,” Chaurasia says. “You don’t often get the chance to bring world music into a world heritage monument. It’s a rare confluence, and it opens up a completely different creative space.”

‘Songs of the Stone’ is Inkpot’s series of after-hours cultural evenings at Delhi’s heritage monuments based on the idea that these historic monuments are not inert relics but living symbols of India’s cultural memory, imagination, and histories. Guided by this idea, the series places music in dialogue with built heritage, encouraging audiences to experience India’s architectural history in a more-than-academic manner. Malhotra describes the project as an attempt to restore emotional immediacy to historic spaces. “India holds an extraordinary wealth of culture, tradition, and heritage, and yet in our globalised lives, much of it quietly fades into the background,” she says. “‘Songs of the Stone’ was born from a desire to make these spaces and artistic traditions feel emotionally relevant again, especially for younger audiences.

In recent years, India’s cultural landscape has seen a growing shift toward experiential heritage programming from concerts in historic forts to art installations in archaeological sites. These projects reflect a broader effort to reframe heritage as something to be lived in and reinterpreted with time. By bringing classical music into monumental spaces and framing it within contemporary curation, Songs of the Stone attempts to bridge the temporal distance between the past and the present.

Learn more about Songs of the Stone here.

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