Watch Ghoom Charakhra
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The Story Behind Ghoom Charakhra
Ghoom Charakhra brought Abida Parveen and Ali Azmat together for the first time on Coke Studio, opening the second episode of Season 11 in August 2018. Produced and directed by Zohaib Kazi and Ali Hamza, the performance sets Hazrat Hussain Shah's Sufi poetry in a composition credited to its two singers. The arrangement begins with the resonant pulse of a hang, then layers an "Allah Haq" chorus beneath Azmat before Parveen enters with an alaap. Dholak, drums, bass, guitars and keyboards steadily widen the sound, joining Parveen's devotional command to Azmat's rock grain. The result revisits a widely loved classic as a deliberately circular Sufi-rock performance, with the building ensemble echoing the spinning-wheel image at the heart of the poem.
Meaning & Translation
Ghoom Charakhra means "spin, spinning wheel" in Punjabi. In Shah Hussain's Sufi poem, the charakhra is more than a household tool: its turning becomes an image of the body in motion and the soul being drawn toward the Divine. The spinner's work is blessed because each rotation suggests remembrance of God. Cotton, thread, wheel and spinner map a spiritual relationship in which human effort is transformed by love and devotion. The refrain therefore does more than celebrate movement. It urges the self to keep turning, to loosen its pride and remain absorbed in the beloved, until ordinary labor feels like prayer and the distance between the human lover and the Divine Beloved begins to disappear.
Details
- Artist
- Abida Parveen, Ali Azmat
- Category
- Coke Studio
- Collection
- Coke Studio Season 11
- Released
- 2018
- Genre
- Sufi Rock
- Mood
- Devotional
- YouTube Views
- 7.63M
Artists & Credits
- Abida Parveen singer
- Ali Azmat singer
- Abida Parveen composer
- Ali Azmat composer
- Hazrat Hussain Shah lyricist
- Babar Khanna musician
- Omran Shafique musician
- Zohaib Kazi producer
- Ali Hamza producer