The cultural series Songs of the Stone will return for its second chapter on 8 March 2026 with a musical evening at the Qutub Minar, featuring two-time Grammy Award-winning flautist Rakesh Chaurasia and his ensemble.
Conceptualised by Simar Malhotra of Inkpot India, the immersive series is presented in collaboration with HSBC Live the Legacy. The initiative seeks to bring together heritage, music and contemporary cultural curation within historically significant settings.
On the evening of 8 March, Chaurasia and his ensemble, Rakesh and Friends, will perform at the UNESCO World Heritage monument from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. Known for his lyrical depth and refined technique on the bansuri, Chaurasia carries forward the legacy of his guru and uncle, the legendary Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, while expanding the instrument’s presence within global and contemporary soundscapes.
Joined by an ensemble of musicians on tabla, drums, bass, guitar and keys, the performance will combine Hindustani classical traditions with global musical influences. Organisers said the programme aims to create a multi-layered sonic experience that resonates across generations, transforming the monument into what they describe as a “living stage of sound and story.”
Conceived by Inkpot India and its founder Simar Malhotra, Songs of the Stone is a curatorial series that places music in dialogue with India’s architectural heritage. The project is rooted in the belief that monuments are not static relics, but repositories of memory, imagination and lived histories. Through curated performances staged within such sites, the series invites audiences to experience heritage in sensorial and emotional ways.
At its core, the series seeks to reframe India’s cultural inheritance for contemporary audiences. By situating classical and traditional music within heritage contexts, the initiative aims to deepen engagement for established listeners while also making these forms accessible and compelling for younger generations. The format integrates architecture, sound, light, scent and storytelling to create multi-sensory environments intended to heighten awareness of both the art form and the monument.
While the current chapter will take place in Delhi, the organisers stated that the long-term vision of Songs of the Stone extends beyond iconic landmarks. The series is designed to travel to lesser-known and overlooked sites across India, reintroducing them through contemporary cultural programming and positioning heritage as an active part of the present.
The event is produced in association with Excurators Events, an organisation focused on creating experiential cultural platforms that connect India’s heritage with contemporary audiences.
Simar Malhotra, Founder, Inkpot, said: “India has an extraordinary wealth of culture, tradition, and heritage, yet in our globalised lives, much of it gets quietly overlooked. Living so closely with beauty, we sometimes stop seeing it; familiarity has a way of flattening wonder. Songs of the Stone comes from my desire to make these spaces and cultural practices feel emotionally relevant again, especially for younger audiences. When people experience heritage rather than simply observe it, something stays with them. And when there is participation, culture doesn’t need preservation.”
Event Details:
Date: Sunday, 8 March 2026
Time: 7:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Venue: Qutub Minar, New Delhi
Featuring: Rakesh Chaurasia and his ensemble
The evening marks the second chapter of a series that seeks to animate historic spaces through music, bringing architectural heritage and live performance into direct contemporary dialogue.
