Image Source: Siasat.com/ Bushra Khan
Soft hues. Soulful music. Rippling water. A hushed baithak.
Secunderabad’s 300-year-old Bansilalpet Stepwell breathes differently on weekends. The monument, often accustomed to quiet, opens itself to music. Warm light slips down its stone steps, the water below shimmers with reflection, as music and words travel gently through its arches. For a few hours, the stepwell becomes less of a relic and more of a living space.
The name behind these beautiful gatherings is Tangy Sessions, a cultural platform founded by Arjuna Prasad and Deepa Radhakrishnan. Known for curating intimate music and art shows in unconventional spaces, they have found a fitting setting in the stepwell, where music can live on with heritage.
“While abundant with monuments, Hyderabad does not have heritage spaces that are associated with music,” Arjuna says. For him, the stepwell was the perfect monument- a living canvas waiting to be activated through sound and presence. “I believe that constant cultural programming can activate heritage places. Through our work, visitors turn into patrons who return again and again. It becomes a part of their memories and their identity,” he says.
The programmes at the Bansilalpet Stepwell take place only on Saturday and Sunday, timed carefully between 5:45 pm and 8 pm. As the sun begins to set, the stepwell slowly shifts in mood- the fading light, the cooling air and the quiet of early evening set the stage for performances that unfold.
What follows is a mix of various performances. From folk and Sufi renditions to poetry, mushairas, dance, theatre, and even rap sessions, the line-up is different every weekend. This reflects Tangy Sessions’ belief in experiential tourism and the need for immersive experiences at heritage sites.
“We are not genre agnostic,” Arjuna tells Siasat.com, “but we are mindful of volume and mood.” This mindfulness can be seen in the way each performance is curated to complement the Bansilalpet Stepwell, rather than overwhelm it.
Notably, music remains a huge part of Tangy Sessions’ programmes. “I personally believe that music can completely leave a lasting impact on every mind. And we, as Indians, live with background music always playing in our minds,” he laughs.
This belief shapes the selection of performers at the stepwell. From singer Sufi’s powerful Urdu renditions to Abhijeet Gurjale’s gentle violin performance, the music here stays with you long after the evening is over. Most of the artists featured are from Hyderabad itself, and select performers like Satlaj Rahat Indori, Sanjeeta Bhattacharya, and Shreya Jain are invited from other cities too. In fact, on December 27 and 28, Tangy Sessions is set to host a Kashmiri singer-songwriter, Ali Saffudin. He is known for blending rock with Kashmiri sufi poetry.
Interestingly, none of the sessions is sponsored. Many artists perform here without their usual market fees, drawn instead by the unique experience of sharing music in a living heritage site.
Being in a residential area, Bansilalpet Stepwell already receives attention from the neighbourhood. “Now, the youth living here have started volunteering at our shows. Many come up and appreciate the work we are doing, admiring the artist’s performances,” Arjuna reveals.
In the past few months, Tangy Sessions have managed to create an uproar on social media. “Our reels about the programmes at Bansilalpet Stepwell have gone viral and now we are getting visitors from Bangalore, Pune, Vizag and other cities,” he says.
On the back of this huge response, Tangy Sessions plan to recreate similar events in other heritage spots of Hyderabad. They have already collaborated with Telangana Tourism department and participated in policy stakeholder meet, with a larger aim of connecting locals with their own heritage. According to Arjuna, tourists and NRIs are more connected to heritage but these spaces truly survive when locals and non-locals experience it together.
Despite the huge buzz it has garnered in recent times, attendance remains intimate. Tickets are released every week via Tangy Session’s Instagram through a Google form. “This is intentional. We are not on any ticketing platforms because we want to know who will be attending. We want the right kind of people who understand what we are doing here. When we create that community, that is when the magic happens,” he says with a smile.
This post was last modified on December 23, 2025 4:14 pm