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Heritage Festival Rajasthan: How Shekhawati Founded Singing Sands
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As the sun sets over Dundlod, the walls of a 275-year-old fort gleam golden. A single note courses through the courtyard. The fort emanates a rich melody from within, beckoning you inside. This isn’t just a music festival. It is the Singing Sands.
Festival director, Vinod Joshi was moved by this visual. He envisioned a heritage festival that would celebrate Rajasthan’s folk traditions not with scale, but soul.
As India’s largest state, Rajasthan is a melting pot of culture. Every region has its own traditions, art, and music. While clubbed as one, people from Shekhawati, Braj and Mewar have distinct sounds, each worth hearing.
"Rajasthani folk music spans centuries, flowing like a river into many beautiful dialects. We envisioned a grand celebration that could bring these ancient traditions from Shekhawati under one umbrella. A platform where the sands would sign this region’s story,"
Vinod Joshi
Director
This idea wasn’t just the start of a new journey. It was the culmination of a dream that had kept Joshi awake for 25 years.
In 2001, he pioneered the Jaipur Heritage International Festival. Over the next two decades, Joshi expanded the footprint of Rajasthani culture across art and literature with multiple such festivals. Soon, Rajasthani culture gained an international following, with millions of people flying down to Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur every year to attend these festivals. But Joshi wasn’t satisfied. Something was missing.
Contrary to what one might think, the missing piece lay not in the international acclaim, media coverage or huge profits. “We were so busy hosting festivals in urban settings that the very places where art was conceived, developed and nurtured never got their due.” Joshi could now see his dream, vivid as reality. It was asking him to come home.
And so, the search began. For a corner of Rajasthan that was dense with history, and untouched by urbanisation. A space where heritage wasn’t packaged into a gallery, but where the town was the gallery.
In came the charmingly quaint village of Dundlod. But despite symbolising the vibrance of Shekhawati culture’s 600 glorious years, its rich heritage was fading. The havelis were bearing the brunt of neglect and apathy, while its artifacts were shipped off to big-city museums.
Having organised over 40 regional festivals across Rajasthan, Joshi, had strong ties with the erstwhile royal family of Dundlod. And thus, it was chosen as the venue for the Singing Sands Heritage Festival. A perfect match.
And thus began the mission. Dancing Peacock, co-founded by Joshi, crafted a festival that would celebrate Shekhawati’s pride. Over 80 artisans were roped in from the remotest corners of Rajasthan. From folk music and dance, to ancient handicrafts and culinary masterpieces, he handpicked people who had devoted their lives to keeping alive the purest traditions of Rajasthan. Dundlod was decorated like a bride, ready to give the world her first glimpse.
November 2024 saw people not just from around India, but more than seven different countries congregate at Dundlod. Over the course of three enchanting days, they immersed themselves in starlit concerts, learned 600-year-old crafts, and tasted delicacies that transcended conventional flavours.
The idea wasn’t to provide highly choreographed setups for Instagram. It was to condense the entire ecosystem into an experience, where every corner told a story and every bite transported you in time. Shekhawati came alive in the frescos of Dundlod’s forts, and the smiles of its people. Tradition, made tangible.
When Singing Sands Heritage Festival 2024 wrapped up, they returned home, carrying pieces of Shekhawati in their hearts. Joshi’s dream had finally come true.
“Over the past century, the heirs of these havelis left for bigger cities and better opportunities. Today, the Shekhawati footprint is global and yet, more disconnected than ever. With Singing Sands Heritage Festival, we managed to reconnect this global diaspora to their roots. We also gave people from around the world, a home of their own in Rajasthan.”
The thing with dreams though, is that they only get bigger.
If the first edition was centred around intimacy and interaction, this one will be pure indulgence. For Singing Sands Heritage Festival 2025, Joshi envisions a celebration that retains Shekhawati’s soul, while making room for global serendipity. “This year, we are going beyond the borders, to create an experience that is truly collaborative,” he smiles. A true musical and cultural retreat.
Come October, a more diverse range of artists will descend upon Dundlod. “Imagine a folk singer humming a tune, backed by a sarangi player from his neighbouring village, only for an international saxophone player to join them? And what if a classical Kathak dancer performs to this music? When we bring together global artists in a local setting, even we don’t know the magic that can unfold,” chuckles Joshi.
If you missed it the first time, this is your chance. Let the fort envelop you, as music lights up the starry night with stories from Shekhawati.
You might just find your missing piece too.
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