Mushaira

Mushaira (Urdu: مشاعرہ‎, mus̱ẖāʿirah) is a poetic symposium. It is an event (called mehfil, MUSHAIRI) where poets gather to perform their works. A mushaira is a beloved part of the culture of Pakistan, North India and the Deccan, particularly among the Hyderabadi Muslims, and it is greatly admired by participants as a forum for free self-expression.

Urdu poetry took the final decisive position in 17th century when Mughals had established their dominion. It was thought by the legends of early India that Shairy should be recited in a gathering of minds with sufficient understanding of the language, so that they may enjoy, criticise, and ultimately appreciate what was recited. The gathering, though, would be in the presence of the King and his Ministers, but then the talk was about somewhat a big gathering than of that. They prophesied that this would lead to development of Urdu Shairy, as people will be able to get the ideas of practical poetry in accordance with the demand of public interests and of public betterment. it is done by muslims.

The commonest form of poetry recital was the mushaira, or poetic symposium, where poets would gather to read their compositions crafted in accordance to a strict metrical pattern, agreed upon beforehand, even while meeting a certain loftiness of thought. The real initiative was legendary that took in 18th century in the Mughal Court helping Urdu Mushaira reach its final, decisive form. A culture was built around taking lessons in poetry writing; it even became fashionable for royalty to learn Urdu shairi. Bahadur Shah Zafar, the last Mughal Emperor of India, was an accomplished poet in his own right. He had a habit of setting his court difficult poetic tasks, such as the challenging art of tazmin, which led to the development of Tarahi Mushaira.

A mushaira can take a number of forms. Traditionally, the ghazal is the specific poetic form employed, neither recited nor sung, but other forms of poetry, recitation and song may be allowed also. If the poetry is humorous in nature, it is referred to as Mazahiya Mushaira. Mazahiya Mushaira is very popular these days, people enjoying the recitation with great pleasure. Some of the poets now developed it in the form of criticising, so presently it's also being used to comment in a very slight way giving a deeper my meaning which gives a long period realisation for the potential comments understanding.

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