“Madhura Nada Sankeertana – Melodious Meditations”, the second album in the “Dwell on Dharma” series, was released by Vidwan Sri Vittal Ramamurthy at his violin concert held in Nashua, NH, last Saturday, October 18, 2014, under the auspices of Bharathi Vidyashram and the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire. “Dwell on Dharma” is an innovative techno-spiritual experiment that attempts to use the power and broad reach of the Internet and its free services, to deliver a well-regarded spiritual device to the community at little or no cost, while attempting to raise funds for a charitable cause (Hindu Temple of New Hampshire) at the same time.

ALBUM OVERVIEW

“Madhura Nada Sankeertana – Melodious Meditations”, which is an exquisite collection of sixteen beautiful compositions in Sanskrit, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi, and which draws from the works of great musicians, adheres to the finest traditions of Carnatic music. Rendered in the melodious and confident voice of Janani Ganesh, to the accompaniment of the gentle, faithful and often subtle strings of Lavanya Kothandaram’s violin, and Karthik Gopalratnam’s skilled percussion on the Mridangam, the album which pays tributes and offers prayers to various Deities and Gurus is a delight to listen to. A video preview of this musical journey is available on YouTube. We invite you to immerse yourself in these melodious meditations, and experience the serenity and peace of Namasmarana, the Hindu practice of dwelling on the names and attributes of the divine using musical devices such as chanting and singing.

THE SONGS

The second album, like the first one in this series, pays tributes to various deities, directs and focuses the listener’s thoughts towards their divine attributes, and in the process creates a feeling of peace, joy and well-being. The songs included in the album are:

·         “Sri Gananatham Bhajare” (Eeshaa Manohari/ Sanskrit/ Dikshitar) in praise of Lord Sri Ganesha.

·         “Sharada Bhujangam”  (Raga Malika/Sanskrit/Adi Shankara) in praise of Devi Sri Sharadamba of Sringeri.

·         “Guru Shlokam” (Shlokam/Sanskrit) in respectful reverence of Sri Bharati Teertha Mahaswamiji, the 36^th Jagadguru of Sringeri Peetam.

·         “Totakashtakam” (Ragamalika/Sanskrit/Totakacharya) in respectful reverence of Sri Adi Shankara.

·         “Shiva Shiva Shiva Bho” (Nadanamakriya/Sanskrit/Maharaja of Mysore) seeks the grace of Lord Shiva

·         “Mamava Meenakshi” (Varali/Sanskrit/Dikshitar) in praise of Devi Sri Meenakshi of Madurai.

·         “Karuna Joodu” (Shree/Telugu/Shyama Sastry) in praise of Devi Sri Lalithamba

·         “Narayana Divya Namam” (Mohanam/Tamil/Papanasam Sivam) sings the praise of the sacred name of Lord Narayana.

·         “Sri Bhargavi” (Mangalakaishiki/Sanskrit/Dikshitar) sings the praise of Devi Sri Lakshmi.

·         “Mamava Pattabhirama” (Manirangu/Sanskrit/Dikshitar) sings the praise of Lord Sri Rama

·         “Bhavayami Gopala Balam” (Yamunakalyani/Sanskrit/Annamacharya) – a meditation on Lord Sri Venkateswara in the form of little Sri Krishna.

·         “Hey Govinda Hey Gopala” (Kapi/Hindi/Surdas) – a poem composed in the 15^th century  that describes how the elephant Gajendra was saved by chanting the powerful name of Lord Sri Krishna.

·         “Natha Hare” (Desh/Sanskrit/Jayadeva) – an Ashtapadi from Gita Govinda (composed in the 12^th century) that captures the eternal love between Lord Sri Krishna and his beloved Devi Sri Radha.

·         “Muruga Muzhumadi” (Saveri/Tamil/Thooran) – a prayer to Lord Sri Muruga

·         “Hariharaputram” (Vasanta/Sanskrit/Dikshitar) sings the glory of Lord Sri Ayyappan.

·         “Mangalam”(Surati/Sanaksrit/Sringeri Mahaswami) – Sri Sharada Geetam

More details about the album, the songs, and the artists can be found in this digital booklet that accompanies this album.

THE ARTISTS

Janani Ganesh: Janani Ganesh started her music training in Singapore under Yazhpanam Sri A.K Karunakaran at Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society. Janani continued her training under the late Sangeetha Achaarya Trivandrum Sri R. Venkatraman and Smt Kalyani Sharma from whom she inherits a tradition of unalloyed classicism and adherence to traditional tenets in presenting chaste Carnatic music.

Lavanya Kothandaraman: Lavanya Raman has been learning violin since the age of 9. After her initial training under Sri Mullaivasal G. Chandramouli for 8 years, she has since been under the guidance of Sri R.K. Shriramkumar. She has accompanied several young and upcoming artists as well as seasoned musicians at several leading sabhas and temples in India and in the Bay Area.

Karthik Gopalratnam: Karthik began his Mridangam training at a very young age from renowned Vidwan Sri H.S.Sudhindra of Bangalore - a highly respected artist and student of Sri Srimushnam Raja Rao. Karthik has performed widely in Bangalore and in the US, where he has accompanied many senior artistes in the Bay Area, Dallas and Seattle. Karthik is also an accomplished vocalist - having been trained from a young age by his mother Smt. Girija Gopalratnam and Vidushi Neela Ramgopal of Bangalore. From 2003 he has been a student of Vidushi Sreevidhya Chandramouli - a descendant of the illustrious Karaikkudi Veenai tradition, under whom he continues to refine his musical aesthetics.

The artists who created the music in this album, that is part of a techno-spiritual experiment, are themselves young Silicon Valley technology professionals. Janani Ganesh, the vocalist, graduated from Northwestern University with a double major in Electrical Engineering and Economics, and manages a team of application development engineers at Workday Inc. Lavanya Kothandaraman holds a Masters degree in Physics, while Karthik Gopalratnam holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from the University of Washington, Seattle, and works for Google.

AVAILABILITY

“Dwell on Dharma” is an experiment that attempts to exploit the global reach and ubiquity of the Internet, the popularity and appeal of modern content delivery mechanisms such as iTunes and Spotify among the younger generation, and tap the advertisement revenue streams of these mechanisms, to raise funds to support a charitable cause, and to create awareness about the effective device of Namasmarana.  As with the first album in the series, “Madhura Nada Sankeertana – Melodious Meditations” is also available on your favorite Internet outlet. It can be purchased as a digital download on sites including iTunes, Amazon, Sony Music Unlimited, and eMusic, as well as streamed for free to your phone or computer from Internet music streaming services including Spotify and Rdio.  The album can also be purchased as a CD at www.createspace.com/2258237 (createspace is an Amazon company ). The first album in the series can now also be purchased as a CD at www.createspace.com/2258744 ).  The CD’s are available at the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire also. All proceeds from the Dwell on Dharma albums will be donated to the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire.

Note that the album is available for free streaming.  A single streaming of a song generates about $0.001 (a tenth of a cent). For streaming revenue to be non-trivial, a very large base of listeners who will stream the songs often is a requirement.  So if you like the album, please help spread the word by socializing this link through services such as facebook, twitter and email, and also stream the albums frequently (even if you purchased a CD or downloaded it on iTunes) to help generate additional donations.

This album was made possible by the generosity of the artists and the producer who took the time from their busy schedules to perform and record the songs and produce this album gratis as a service to the community. Please encourage the artists, the initiative, and the cause by showing your support.

Dwell on Dharma was initiated and is run by K. Arvind, under the auspices of Bharathi Vidyashram and the Hindu Temple of New Hampshire. Dwell on Dharma can be reached via email at dwell.on.dharma@gmail.com, and also follow us on facebook and twitter.

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