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The Birth of Amarrass Music Tours

For 25 years, Sadhana Travels has created and organised thousands of tours for individuals and groups in Kerala, Rajasthan, Varanasi, Khajuraho, catering to their needs, desires, and taking care of their safety and comfort. 

But it was when Ashutosh (wearing the Amarrass hat)  ventured into the narrow bylanes of the quaint villages around Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur in Rajasthan to record some of the greatest living musicians, including Nihal Khan — known as the Surdas of the Manganiyar community of musicians (Surdas was a 16th-century blind Hindu devotional poet and singer) — Lakha Khan (a living legend), and the Late Padma Shri Sakar Khan, one of the finest exponents of the Kamaycha who had played with George Harrisson, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Yehudi Menhuin, that the seed of organising tours which included exclusive, intimate music sessions with some of the great masters got planted.  

 

During their field trips, Ashutosh and Ankur slept on cots under the stars, chatting, recounting the day, the journey. And it was during these conversations that they realised the need to create a sustainable ecosystem for senior, ageing musicians as travelling to shows/gigs wasn't easy for them.

Ashutosh immediately launched these on a trial basis, suggesting it to the odd traveller coming to India whose tours Sadhana was organising. 

Many have walked those narrow bylanes and one of the most memorable feedback was a client telling us, “I may forget the Taj Mahal but will never forget that evening with the musicians under the stars, when there was a blackout in the village”.

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