Jaipur is preparing to make history. The international project BRICS Melody will take place in the Pink City from 30 November to 2 December 2026, becoming the first multinational musical collaboration of this scale on Indian soil and officially opening the year-long programme celebrating Jaipur's 300th anniversary.
The programme will include a festival of performers on traditional musical instruments of the BRICS nations, a forum with leading experts in international humanitarian relations and masterclasses for young people and residents of the city. The agreement to host BRICS Melody in Jaipur was reached with Russian partners at the International Youth Festival in Russia on 15 September 2026.
Jaipur is no random venue for a project built on cultural dialogue. In 2019, the historic city of Jaipur was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, making it a natural partner for a project rooted in tradition and living heritage.
Onkar Bagaria, CEO of Vivekananda Global University, said: "It is a great honour for our university to serve as organiser of the international BRICS Melody project in Jaipur. Our university is named after Swami Vivekananda — a thinker who taught that culture does not divide people, it connects them. Today, that idea takes practical form: the events hosted on our campus are an investment in a new generation that will build bridges between India, Russia and the BRICS nations through music and culture."
First launched in 2024 under the BRICS Youth Cooperation framework, the BRICS Melody project has grown into a large-scale international cultural initiative, bringing together representatives from 9 countries. To date, 70 musicians have participated in the project, while its educational activities have engaged 50 experts and 3,500 school and university students, and the festival has attracted 5,000 spectators.
On the Russian side, the project is co-organised by the Russian Youth Union and the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. The programme is built on a people-centred, youth-oriented approach to cultural exchange, in keeping with the spirit of India's BRICS chairmanship theme this year.
"It is a great honour for us that India becomes the project's first international platform. This is a deliberate choice. India is home to one of the world's oldest musical traditions. Russia and India share decades of cultural dialogue, and today we continue that tradition — now within the BRICS format. Our project brings together musicians from nine countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, the UAE, Egypt, Iran and Indonesia. We speak different languages, we play different instruments, but we find a common rhythm. And the fact that this dialogue begins in Jaipur — a city with three centuries of history and a living cultural tradition — gives it particular meaning. We come to Jaipur not as touring performers, but as partners speaking one language — the language of culture," commented Natalia Aksenova, author and project head.
As part of the project, Jaipur will host the official presentation of the first-ever album by performers on traditional instruments of the BRICS nations. The album is the first joint project of this scale in history. The presentation will take place at the Indian venue, in Jaipur, during the festival.
