Hyderabad, July 21 -- Its Friday afternoon and the environs of the Dargah Yousufain at Nampally are reverberating with traditional Qawwalis, a Sufi form of music.

For those regularly visiting the Dargah Yousufain, also known as Yousuf Baba Sharif Baba Dargah, the qawwals, the ones who sing qawwalis, a form of devotional singing related to Sufi philosophy, are not new. The performers are an integral part of the activity seen here for decades on Thursday, Friday and Sunday, plus during the annual urs celebrations.

Saber Ahmed, a qawwal, is one of the regular performers at the shrine. A third-generation qawwal, he visits shrines across the city to sing Sufi renditions. "We being artistes, we cannot offer money at the shrines, so we go ther...