‘Music speaks what cannot be expressed, soothes the mind and gives it rest, heals the heart and makes it whole flows from heaven to the soul.’ – Anonymous
What is life without ‘Music’, imagine body without soul, fish without water, oxygen less universe or something like that. There are people who live on music they feel like they cannot go a day without listening to music; music is where their heart and soul is. Music gives you peace of mind rest to your heart; it makes the life worth living.
Music is not only a source of entertainment it is the part of life for centuries. It teaches you a lot like teacher, entertains you like profound musician, heals you like spiritual healer, loves you like friend, protects you like parents, cares about you like brother or sister and saves you like a doctor. The highest musical experience is Ananda, the divine bliss. Music has divine presence in its purest form it gives you path to reach god. In that sense we have ‘Bhajna’, ‘Qawalli’, ‘Psalms’, ‘Hymns’ and lot more from all different cultures and religions.
Music is so important to our lives that it is believed that the first sound produced by throat was musical. The vibrations of vocal chords created sound which is the main property of music. The Indian form of music is one of the oldest in the world, as is evident from historical facts known about India. In Hindu scriptures it is said that there is no knowledge beyond the knowledge of music.
It is mentioned in ancient Indian ‘Vedas’ that when the universe came into existence Brahma (The creator of universe according to Hindu mythology) created music first and gifted it to Lord Shiva (The destroyer) who then gave it to Devi Saraswati who is known as goddess of music. Besides Vedic era music, Gandharva who are believed to be a celestial musicians and are semi-divine their music was prevalent in ancient time. We have musical magicians like Tansen, who is said to have no equals in music of all time. It is believed that he had performed miracles through his music. He is supposed to have the ability of creating fire by singing rag Deepak and creating rain by singing rag Megh Malhar.
It is mentioned in Atharva Veda that Samveda hymns were sung on the seven notes (saat sur) known as:
‘Shadaj’ is produced by Peacock – Sa
‘Rishabh’ is produced by Cow – Re
‘Gandhar’ is produced by Goat – Ga
‘Madhyam’ is produced by Heron – Ma
‘Pancham’ is produced by Koyal – Pa
‘Dhaiwat’ is produced by Horse – Dha
‘Nishad’ is produced by Elephant – Ni
The origin of the ancient Indian music began in the age of the Aryans. The Indian music fraternity consists of variety of diversified and melodious styles of music. The Indian Gharanas (different schools of Indian music) like the Khyal and Dhrupad upheld the ancient Indian traditions of the sanctimonious teacher-pupil relationship and have different styles of presentation. In India we also have variety of folk music; almost every state has a different and distinct style of music and style of performance.
With a rich legacy of music, we have many renowned musicians of their times who have created magic with their music like Hari Prasad Chorasia, Zakir Hussain, Alla Rakha Khan, Pt Ravi Shankar or famous vocalists of classical music like Bhimsen Joshi, Kishori Amonkar, Pt. Jasraj and Mallikarjun Mansur, Bismillah Khan or sufi music or from the Indian Bollywood industry, like S.D.Burman, Kishore Kumar, Bhupen Hazarika, Manna Dey, Mohd. Rafi, Lata Mangeshkar and list goes on, we have the Indian music arena is blessed with legends and music stalwarts.
So enjoy the richness and legacy of the Indian music and its musicians.
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