It was still early days of the 10pm loudspeaker ban when Pandit Jasraj got on to the stage to perform at the Sawai Gandharva festival in Pune. The event had been an all-nighter since its start in 1953, but organisers were struggling to respectfully rein in the creative flights of master musicians on stage.

Jasraj recalls: “We were not used to singing to a deadline and I carried on well past 10.30pm. And then the police arrived to shut us down. Bhimsenji (Pt Bhimsen Joshi) told me ‘Tum gao, mein dekhta hoon kya karte hain’. And I did that, but then he was a colossus, a law unto himself.”

But those days are long gone and even Sawai concerts obediently wind up by 10pm. The iconic Bhairavi Jamuna ke Teer by Joshi’s guru, Sawai Gandharva, which marked the end of the festival is now played at night instead of crack of dawn.

Rambling all-night concerts, once a regular feature in music circuits, have become history for multiple reasons. Few people, including connoisseurs, have the time or inclination to spend a sleepless night listening to classical music. With the 2005 Supreme Court ban on late-night use of loudspeakers in public spaces, the tradition took a fatal knock.

The few soldiering on with the marathoners are Varanasi’s Sankat Mochan festival, held in the temple courtyard, and the Harballabh festival outside Jalandhar. Concerts now are tightly wound events that cram two-three artistes into a single evening. But some of that is set to change with newly curated all-nighters.

Early this month, the state-run Jawahar Kala Kendra (JKK) in Jaipur hosted Raag, a classical music event that started at 8pm and finished at 7am, as Jasraj took the stage.

The Charles Correa-designed Kendra with its enclosed amphitheatre is ideal for a night of music under the stars. This is the second edition of the festival, ticketed at Rs 50 for nearly 12 hours of classical music.

Pooja Sood, JKK director-general says, “I grew up in Pune and remember the magic of the all-night Sawai Gandharva festival. JKK has a unique amphitheatre which opens to the sky and I thought it would be an ideal space to recreate that magic. Besides we no longer get to hear a whole lot of late night and morning ragas anymore.”

The series kicked off with the prodigiously talented Jaipur youngster Mohammed Aman, followed by performances by Hariprasad Chaurasia, Ashwini Bhide, Sanjeev Abhyankar, Anuradha Pal and Liyaqat Ali Khan.

And if you thought an all-nighter can no longer pull audiences, think again. The amphitheatre was spilling over with more than 800 music lovers — on its floor, steps and ramparts — even at 4am when Bhide and Abhyankar started their Jasrangi duet. “It is a great time to hear music, our mind uncluttered by hassles of work and home,” says Sood.

On November 18, the IGNCA in Delhi in conjunction with Spic Macay hosted Bhinna Shadja, an all-nighter featuring celebrated artistes such as Vikku Vinayakram, N Rajam and Uday Bhawalkar. The organisation that has worked relentlessly with students to spread awareness about Indian classical arts among the young has been a long-time votary of all-night concerts.

Kiran Seth, founder of Spic Macay, explains: “If you look at many of our art forms like koodiyattam or kathakali or kuchipudi, the all-night experience is considered integral for getting into that meditative space. I recall hearing Ali Akbar Khan on the sarod at IIT Kharagpur at 4am and it wasn’t that you were just listening to music, you became a part of his journey.”

But an all-nighter is not for everyone, or for the unprepared. You can’t battle through a frantic day at work or home and collapse at a concert in the hope of an out-of-the-world experience. “We are so tense at all times that we don’t have the relaxed mindspace for classical music. If you come sleepy and tired, staying up all night will end up as an irritating burden you have to somehow deal with. So sleep and eat before you come,” says Seth.

Spic Macay has a series of overnighters lined up on campuses between 2017 and 2018. It routinely hosts one at its annual student conventions which buzzes all night with great energy.