HEER Waris Shah

Experience the celebrated panjabi sufi masterpiece - the story of Heer and her beloved Ranjha as they challenge family, class, and society.
About this Event

Heer by Waris Shah

The story of Heer and Ranjha has been passed down through generations even before it was immortalized by Waris Shah, an eighteenth-century Sufi poet. Through his epic poem of over 600 stanzas, he transforms a familiar tale into a richly layered meditation on love, power, gender, and society. Today, Heer is widely regarded as one of the great works of Panjabi literature.

Through this performance we bring Waris Shah's Heer to life through music, poetry, and storytelling. The verses are performed in Panjabi, while English narration provides the context and guides the audience through the unfolding story.

About Art & Tolerance

Art & Tolerance is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit invites people to encounter one another's histories and cultures through the arts.

Panjabi Poetica, our flagship initiative brings Panjabi poetry into contemporary public life - not as an artifact of the past, but as a living tradition to be read, sung, discussed, and experienced together. Through public library reading circles, performances and conversations, we invite audiences - new and familiar - to discover and explore one of the world's great literary traditions.

We believe every work of art is an invitation—not simply to look or listen, but to understand one another.

Vocalist : Ishmeet Narula

Flute : Tejasvi Chakravarthy Mandolin : Harinder Singh

Tabla : Gurdeep Singh

Narrators : Sadia Azmat & Sonia Dhami

Curated by: Sonia Dhami

Presented by Panjabi Poetica - a program of Art and Tolerance