The mysterious world of India

Indian classical music

No system of human faith and cult is more diverse, complex, or bizarre than the spiritual and religious tradition that has developed over many centuries on the Indian subcontinent — collectively referred to as Hinduism .
The origin of the rich and complex tradition of Hinduism probably dates back to the 3rd millennium BC, when considerably advanced civilizations flourished in the fertile valley of the Indus River. The basic conceptions of Hinduism itself were formed around 1500 BC by the interaction of these civilizations with the Aryans, who came to the Indian subcontinent from Persia. At that time, the classical language of Hinduism, Sanskrit , developed and the Vedas emerged - the oldest religious texts of Hinduism.
The basic religious concept of Hinduism is brahma - the universal essence of the universe and the basic reality, unlimited, uncreated, all-encompassing. Brahma also animates all living entities and at the same time forms the so-called atman - the soul or the innermost "I" of each individual. The existence of the Universe is conceived by the Hindu tradition cyclically - as a constantly recurring cycle of creation and extinction (cf. the relevant passage in the " Anthropic Principle or Cosmic God ").
  The ethical system of Hinduism is based on the concept of dharma - the divine cosmic and social order and karma - of an individual human act that affects cosmic harmony. Closely related to this is the Hindu belief in reincarnation - a cycle of rebirth in which the soul of an individual is repeatedly reincarnated after death. The actions performed in this life affect the fate of the individual in his future lives. Through a virtuous life, righteous action without egoism, and self-improvement, an individual can progress through many lives to spiritual perfection, free himself from the cycle of karma, and attain nirvana — the ultimate relief from pain, death, and rebirth. For physical and especially spiritual improvement, a system of yoga was developed in Hinduism , in which meditation plays a key role .
Although the Hindu pantheon is made up of a large number of deities and cults (there are thousands of small local traditions and cults), there are only a few basic generally worshiped deities. Above all, it is Brahma- the supreme creator, the cosmic spirit and the inner essence of all things; further Vishnu - the creator of the universe, the maintainer of life (perhaps the most revered Hindu god); Shiva - the god of fertility and death. Sarasvati (Brahma's wife) - the goddess of wisdom, knowledge and art, also enjoys great respect ; Sri-Lakshmi - the wife of Vishna, the "lotus" goddess, the goddess of fortune; Parvati (1st wife of Shiva, mother of Ganesha - god with an elephant's head *); rather feared is Kali - Durga (2nd wife of Shiva) - bloodthirsty goddess of destruction and death. According to Hindu tradition, the god Vishnu had many of his incarnations, the so-called avatars . The most famous of these is Krishna - a charming god of love, music, dance . ................
*) How did Ganesha come to the elephant's head? According to legend, Ganesha was born to Parvati during the long absence of Shiva. When Shiva found an unknown young man in his wife's residence, he cut off his head in jealous anger. Finding out that he was his own son, he sent his servant into the world to bring the head of the first living thing he met. And he first met an elephant, so he returned with an elephant's head, which Shiva immediately placed on his son's body.
In addition to the basic sacred texts of Hinduism, which are the Vedas , Hindu spirituality is also based on "divinely inspired" legends and epics, describing the miraculous and heroic deeds of gods or kings.
Ramayama is a heroic ballad about Prince Rama (who is Vishnu's avatar) who, with the help of the devoted monkey king Hanuman, fights for the liberation of his wife Sita, who was abducted by the demon Ravan and to the island of Lanka. Hanuman jumped the sea; the monkeys even built a bridge between the Indian coast and Sri Lanka.
The Mahabharata is an extensive epic (numbering more than 100,000 couplets - probably the greatest epic in world literature) about the Bharat dynasty, where a divine message is given in a section called the Bhagavatgita (a song of nobility) against the backdrop of a long struggle between the related Pandus and Kurus ; here the god Krishna , acting in the symbolic role of a charioteer, preaches selfless deeds and devotion to the divine principle in oneness with the Atman in dialogue with Arjuna (of the Pandus family).
  Hinduism has greatly influenced the religious and philosophical traditions of most Asian nations. Already in the first centuries of the Christian era, it spread to Southeast Asia and as far as the Indonesian island of Bali. At the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 5th century BC, Buddhism (and also Jainism ) emerged in northern India , which penetrated into China and Tibet, Mongolia, Japan and the whole of Southeast Asia.
  Hinduism can thus be called the " cradle of Eastern wisdom " in a similar sense in which we call Greek antiquity the "cradle" of European philosophy and civilization. For further remarks on the philosophical side of Hinduism, see, for example, in the work "The Anthropic Principle or the Cosmic God ", the passage " Eastern Philosophy and Religion ".

Indian classical music
Indian classical music is one of the most significant phenomena of spiritually and meditation-oriented non-European music. We can basically divide it according to two aspects. From a geographical point of view, these are two basic streams:

• North Indian (Hindustani) music
• South Indian music also called carnatic

In terms of musical style, there are also two basic genres - ragas and bhajans, as well as chanting mantras and music for ritual ceremonies:

• Ragas are more extensive instrumental or vocal-instrumental compositions of a meditative nature with a spiritual focus. In Sanskrit, the word raga means a state of mind - raga therefore expresses a certain mood . Due to their tuning and "coloring", the ragas are directed to different times of the day - the most common are the morning (or morning ) and evening (or night) rags . Ragas (especially North Indian) usually begin with an introductory slow melodic part called álap or alapa (usually unaccompanied by percussion instruments) and gradually graduate to the finaltintal with fast variations and a strong rhythm supported by percussion instruments, mostly tabla drums . Each raga has its rules, but the performer has certain possibilities of improvisation - he develops the basic melody according to his spiritual experience and mood of the interior.
  In the past, Indian vocal rags were sung in the moderate ancient dhrupad style used as early as the 12th century. in Vishnu temple temples (especially in the area around Vrndavana associated with the legends of Sri Krishna's activities). The dhrupad style is characterized by a dignified seriousness; instead of sharp-sounding drumstabla is used for rhythmic accompaniment by a darker-sounding pakhavaj drum , the sound background is mostly tanpura . Later, the more effective style of khajál prevailed , now almost exclusively used. In the list of phonetics, most of the vocal rags are in the style of khajál, in the case of rags in the dhrupad style it is explicitly stated.
  By immersing ourselves in the clear tones of the rage, we can achieve silence of the mind, embracing love and peace.
• Bhajans are Indian spiritual songs about various deities of the Hindu pantheon (such as Vishnu or Shiva), about the spiritual wisdom of yoga, about gurus, about the path to enlightenment.
• In South Indian Karnatical music, the style of Kirtana - a fervent religious song of the concept of bhakti - of man's devotion to God, occupies a prominent position .
• Kathakali is a traditional temple theater ( kathakali = playing a story ) consisting of carols, pantomime and dance, accompanied mainly by rhythmic musical instruments (drums, gongs, cymbals). Actors and dancers are masterfully dressed and dressed in intricate costumes. The themes are various themes from the life of the Hindu pantheon, especially the stories from the epics of Ramayama and the Mahabharata. It is played at temple festivals, often all night. Kathakali is widespread mainly in southern India, especially in the state of Kerala.

Indian musical instruments
Sitar - a string instrument, is the most famous and perhaps also the most perfect Indian musical instrument. The body of the sitar is made of carefully worked dry pumpkin bark, the front plate and neck are made of wood. Often the sitar is complemented by a removable resonator - a flask made of dried gourd, which is attached from below to the upper part of the neck. The sitar has 5-7 main strings at the top above the frets and 11-13 resonant stringsthat stretch at the bottom under the sleepers. The strings are stretched over a flat bridge with a slightly bevelled edge, the surface of which touches the vibrating strings; this causes a characteristic rattling sound. The strings resound not with the pick, but with a special ring made of hard wire, threaded on the end of the finger. Pulling the strings to the side along the frets increases the tension of the string and increases the pitch. Impressive tonal cadences and vibrato can be achieved by pulling and loosening the string.
  The sitar differs from the guitar and most other lute instruments in two peculiarities:
1. It has sliding frets (protruding high above the fingerboard) that allow the microtone to adjust the tuning intervals to the needs of the rage.
2.In addition to melodic strings, the sitar is also equipped with a system of additional (sympathetic) strings, which do not sound manually, but only by spontaneous resonance - this leads to an impressive bar ringing sound full of aliquot tones.
  The sitar is a typical instrument for North Indian rags. Sometimes a slightly larger variant of the sitar with a deeper tuning is used, called Surburhar or Surbahár - "bass sitar". Art historians do not have a unified opinion on the origin of the sitar . Some sources indicate that the sitar evolved from wine, which is another ancient Indian string instrument (mentioned below), specifically from Rudra wine. Other sources attribute the origin of the sitar to the musicians at the courts of the Moghul dynasty (which also does not preclude wine inspiration). In the form close to the present, the sitar has been present for about 600 years.

Sitar - a symbol of classical Indian music	The famous Indian virtuoso Ravi Shankar plays the sitar

Sarod has 8 main strings, 3 side strings and 7 resonant strings, but unlike the sitar, it has no frets - it provides more velvety and obscured tones than the sitar.
Sarod developed in the 18th century. from the string Persian-Afghan instrument Rebab (mentioned in the passage Traditional Middle Eastern Music and Islamic Music ).
Tanpura (also called Tambura) - a fretless lute, a stringed instrument providing pulling tones. It is very often used as an accompanying instrument in rags, where it creates a kind of "continuum" (so-called drone) from the basic tones of the rag.
Sarangí are wonderful Indian violins also often used in some rags. They provide a soft yet majestic sound, as malleable as the human voice. The bow is played on only three or four main intestinal strings, the other 36 metal strings are resonant. The technique of the game is quite demanding - fingers slide down the strings where the skin ends and the nail begins. This achieves very fine glizards and ductility of the tone. A simple folk variant of sarangi is the Saringda string instrument , used mainly in Rajasthan and northwestern India.
In South Indian rágách they are then used so. karnatic violin .
Vina - a beautiful string instrument used previously mainly in sacred music. Classic wines have four main playing strings (played on them by a plectrum) and three on the side, on which a little finger is pressed to maintain the lower still sounding tone (so-called drone ). As with the sitar, an additional resonator is attached to the top of the neck from below. Wine is a very old instrument, already mentioned in the Vedas. The ancient scriptures state that this instrument was created by the gods (Shiva) so that its sound resembled as much as possible to the human voice in its honey color. Women often play in wine. In the ragas, the most common accompaniment of the wine is tanpura, which maintains the basic tone, and in the rhythmic parts, the double-membrane mridangam drum. The most classic type of wine is Sarasvati Wines(often used in South Indian carnatic music). The more robust but simpler Rudra vina , used mainly in dhrupad-style music, consists of a bamboo rod with stretched strings, near the ends of which are attached two resonators made of dry empty pumpkins. A similar instrument of newer design is the Vichitra vina , which has 17 strings (6 main and 11 sympathetic) and is also used in North Indian Hindustani music.
Dilruba - a stringed string instrument with 18 strings, in which some elements of sitar and sarang are combined.
Esraj - a string instrument with 19 strings, of which 4 main and two octaves resonant strings; esraj and dilruba are very similar.
Ektár- ancient 1-string lute of simple construction. It consists of a dried bottom with a drilled hole through which passes a bamboo rod with a stretched string. It is used as a simple accompaniment to folk songs.

The most common string instruments in Indian classical music:
	Sarod Sarangi Vina Sarasvati
........ Sitar .................. Tanpura ...................... to Sarod , Sarangi , Vina

Flutes are also a common and very impressive instrument in rags. Above all, it is the Bansuri bamboo flute - a transverse flute with 6 or 7 holes. The flutes are especially popular in South Indian music ( Venu flute with 8 holes, Kural flute ), in North Indian music the flute was introduced only at the beginning of the 20th century.
Occasionally, the ancient sliced wind instrument Shenaj (such as the oboe) with a mystical sound is also used . Of the percussion instruments, one-sided Tabla drums (usually a pair of smaller, sharp-sounding and larger "bass" drums) , the ancient double-sided Pakhawaj drum, are most often used (in almost all North Indian ragas).with a dark sound, the Dholak drum , and in South Indian music also a similar Mridangam drum . A peculiar percussion instrument of South Indian carnatic music is the ceramic ghatam , similar to a clay pot with a tapered neck.

Some wind, percussion and keyboard instruments in Indian classical music:
flute Bansuri Shenaj Harmonium		Tabla Pakhawaj Mridangam

Sound library :

Mantras from the sacred caves of Elora in Aurangabad
Mantras sung in the caves accompanied by a flute.
Sarasvati Bhagavati - Prayer to the Indian goddess of art and wisdom, the embodiment of beauty and love.
Starring: J.Mazánek
Peace - love - harmony - meditation on motifs of Indian rags
Cast: Pandit Hariprashad Chaurazia + Shivkumar Shharma

Ragas in instrumental version:
Marva - evening raga
Sitár: Rais Khan
Bilashan Todi - a morning raga
Sitár: Rais Khan, Sarangi: Sultan Khan, Tabla: Subir Khan
Jogeshvarí - an evening raga, Hemir - morning raga
Sitar Ravi Shankar
Bhairavi , Èaudrankans , Kamai
Sitar: Shamin Ahmed Khan, Tabla: Najan Goshi
Malkauns- et Prakáki kauns
Sitar: Ustad Rais Khan, Tabla: Manik Rao Popatkár
Mant Bhairavi
Sitar: Vilijat Khan, Tabla: Zakir Husajn
Hamir Kalyan -
Sitar: Vilajat Khan, Tabla: Samir Khan
Púra Kalyan - evening rage
Sitár: Nikhil Bannerjee, Tabla: Anindo Èaterdjí
Ahir Bhairav, Èandrakauns - night ragas
sitar: Nikhil Bannerjee
Yaman-Kalyan, Kirwari, Chandra Nandan - evening ragas
sitar: RUP Verma, Tabla: Sarkar Subhas
Bagasra - evening raga
sarod: Ayajan Ali Bangaš
Cambodia , Kamaj
Sarod: Vajhad Khan
Sri , Khamai
Sarod: Andzat Ali Khan, Tabla: Pandit Kishhan Maharaj
Bilas Kchanetodi , Brindabani - evening rags
Sarod: Andjat Ali Khan
Jaman Kalyan - evening romantic rage
Sitar: Rais Khan, Sarangi: Sultan Khan, Anindo Chaterji
Shankara- night rage
Sarangi: Rama Narajan, Tabla:, Tanpura:
Caucasus - Canada - night rage
Sarangi: DSKhan, Tabla: USHusay
Jayajayanti - romantic rage
Sarangi: Ustad Sultan Khan, Tabla: Astad Shaukad Thausain Khan
Lalit - contemplative
Rama , Tabla: Sureš Tavalkar
Meditation for esraj; Malkauns - night rage
Esraj: Sri Chinmoy, Sarangi: Sultan Khan, Tabla: Zakir Hussein
..... - Indian ragas on sarangi
Sarangi: Sultan Khan, Tabla: Zakir Hussein, Tanpura: Shefali Knat
Yaman, Madhukans, Mishra Bhairavi, Kajri Dhun, Dadra Dhun
Bamboo Flute Solo: Raghunath Seth
Baghashri
Bansuri flute: Hariprashad Caurasia, Tabla: Subvinder Rasing Nambari, Gatam: Viku Vinajakram
Bim - ancient raga
Bansuri flute: Ronu Majumdar, Tabla: Subvinder Rasing Nambari
Durgavanti - rag based on Goddess Durga,
Harasuradari
Shiva -

Canada raga Flute: Pandit Hariprashad Èaurásia, Tabla: Fazal Kureš Džaid - evening ragas version
Flute: Hariprashad Èaurázia, Tabla: Fazal Kureš
rubble Sarang , Dani - ragas pentatonic
flute bansuri: Pandit Rangoon Seth, Tabla: Balkrishna Jere
Puriva - raga dusk
Shenaj Solo Ustad Bismilah Khan + 2 accompanying hay TABLE, Kurdak:
Hansa Dwan Džajama well Hari Chandra Jyoti, Èarukeš, Ragamalika - South Indian ragas Mandolina: Ustad Šrinivaz Rámapria, Rágamalika - South Indian ragas Karnatické violin El Subramanian Kausik Dwan - night rage Santur: Rahul Sharma Mishra Shivaranjari - North Indian rage Santur: Shivkumar Sharma Bhupali - pentatonic rage Santur: Shivkumar Sharma, Tabla: Zakir Hussein ......................
............
Ragas in vocal-instrumental design:
Abhogí, Mahatí -
South Indian ragas
sung: balamurali Krishna
Maru Bihak - višnuistická night raga , Dez Džajdžajvantí
sings: Pandit Džasradž + Sveta Džaveri
Džajdžajvantí Malhar - raga in the style of Dhrupad
singing, Pandit Mallik + sons
Bhupat Kalyan - višnuistická raga of Krishna - in the style of Dhrupad
Singing: Brothers R . + P. Mallikovi
Vibhás, Hindól - early morning rags
Singing: Ulhas Kashhalkar
Sri, Gauri, Marva
Sings: Pandit CR Vyas
Kriti, Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi - songs of the
Karnatical tradition Singing: R.Krishnan, Violin: V.Thyajarajan, Mrandangam Kanjira: V.Najarajan, Tanpura: P.Srinivasan
. ....................
................

Classical Indian bhajans - rags Yemen, Malkauns
Lyrics: Surdas, Thulsidas, Sings: Anup Jalota
Bhajans - bhakti
Lyrics: Thulsidas and Mira Baji, Sings: Bhimsen Joshi
Bhajans from the ashram Sri Deva Dungari Sanyas.
Author: Bhagvan Sri Dip Narayan Mahaprabhuji
Music from Rajasthan 1, 2
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...... ......
Note: In India, vocal rags are much more often performed than instrumental rags. The fact that instrumental rags predominate in my sound library is for subjective reasons: I like them more, their spiritual message appeals to me and I listen to them regularly. I see vocal rags more as an ethnic interest.
The list will be added gradually. For older recordings, it is sometimes difficult to find the titles and artists, I apologize for some incomplete and inaccurate data, it will be gradually corrected.

Vojtech Ullmann