Manjari Chaturvedi

Dancer, writer and cultural revivalist

Manjari Chaturvedi has led the revival and preservation of Khanqahi Qawwali for over 25 years. Founder of The Qawwali Project (2011), she has created a globally acclaimed movement celebrating forgotten musical legends and documenting traditional art academically. Her pioneering work, including The Courtesan Project (2009) and Sufi Kathak (1998), merges art and scholarship to reclaim the legacy of Qawwals and tawaifs—artists long overlooked in cultural history. Through books, films, lectures, and performances, Manjari chronicles their roles in India’s artistic and spiritual traditions, while her other projects—The Jugni Project, The Rumi Project, and The Royal Gharana Series—continue reinventing classical art forms.