Lok Virsa announces digitization of classical Pakistani records

For all the lovers of Lok Virsa, aka the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage, there is a great news! The Institute has recently announced digitizing musical archives on social media platforms providing access to music lovers to enjoy classics recordings of Pakistani musical legends.

Salman Sufi, the head of the Prime Minister’s Strategic Reforms Unit, announced that the archives are now available on YouTube and the Lok Virsa website.

In a video message, Sufi emphasized on importance music carries as the soul of a society and highlighting Pakistani musicians' art incorporating cultural values in their art.

“We welcome you to experience the archives of Lok Virsa, an entity that had the opportunity to provide a platform to artists from 1970 to now,” he began.

“We have uploaded original recordings of our artists that were only available on VHS and in analogue form. This is the first time Pakistan’s folk treasure is being presented to the world on these platforms.”

The Lok Virsa archives available online include recordings of legends Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Abida Parveen, Attaullah Khan Esakhelvi, Ghulam Ali, Iqbal Bano, Mansoor Malangi, Tufail Niazi, Farida Khanum, Pathany Khan, and Ustad Salamat Ali.