I stumbled on this album accidentally. I found it when I was searching for something else. I downloaded the track Hari Om first and was mesmerized by it. It is a must have for anybody, absolutely anybody.
Chants of India is Pt. Ravi Shankar's effort to set Sanskrit chants from ancient Hindu scriptures to music. As expected, the result is a captivating mix of chant and music. Produced by George Harrison, this collection of mantras and prayers from the Vedas, Upanishads, and other scriptures powerfully transports the listener to a place of peace where it's possible to be one with the universe. This collection of chants is simply the best you can get of such a collection. It starts, as in traditional Indian music, with a chant for Lord Ganesh. The collection is quite varied from chantings of a specific God such as the goddess of Learning (Saraswati); chantings from the Gita(the famous Karmanyeva Adhikareste, which states that one should refrain from acting with expectations about results) and the vedas; to the famous Gayathri mantra,. The chants are authentic in their rendering in terms of the utterances and adherence to tradition.
It's as if a heavy, enveloping cloak of serenity falls from the dark, floating sounds of cello opening the CD. Shankar employs flute, tambura, harp, and other instruments to accent the mighty "OM" thread that weaves itself through the cloth of this album, bringing together deep, ominous voices with delicate, earthly instruments. One looking for extensive Shankar sitar might be disappointed, but the beauty of this artist's creativity and spiritual vision sweeps one away into a larger, more meaningful listening experience. Highly recommended.
Track Listing(You can download them from here itself)
1. Vandanaa Trayee
2. Omkaaraaya Namaha
3. Vedic Chanting (One)
4. Asato Maa
5. Sahana Vavatu
6. Poornamadah
7. Gaayatri
8. Mahaa Mrityunjaya (Triyambakam Yajamahe)
9. Veena Murali
10. Geetha (Karmanya Vadhikaraste)
11. Mangalam (Tala Mantra)
12. Hari Om
13. Svara Mantra
14. Vedic Chanting (Two)
15. Prabhujee (File split into three parts - part1, part2, part3. Download all of them and open the zip file. Extract the track from there)
16. Sarve Shaam
Go here for the text. I shall repeat, this is a must have. Do download the tracks and let me know if you liked them.
Signing off...
Abhiram Natarajan.
1 comments:
Nice post. Hari Om is a very nice track. I listen to it quite often. I don't have the whole album. Thanks for including the links. Cheers!
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