Music has immense healing power. Classical music, even more so. It can be more than therapeutic in this age and time. With its ability to reduce stress and soothe the nerves, it can do wonders to the listener.

To commemorate the eight anniversary of the Vivus Group of Hospitals, an evening of classical  music was organised at the Chowdaiah Memorial Hall recently. The evening saw performances by classical music icons like N Ravikiran on the navachitraveena, Padmabhushan U K Sivaraman on the mridangam, Mysore M Nagaraj on the violin and Sunder Kumar on the ganjira. Even as music filled the air, applause followed. The serenity and peace that the instruments left behind was amazing and enjoyable.

Step back little into the past and you can find that Indian classical music primarily originated from the oldest of scriptures that are a part of the Hindu tradition, the Vedas. The Samaveda in particular describes music at length.
Having spiritual and physical benefits are just one of the important features of classical music. The hymns and the ragas present in the Vedas are defined through musical instruments used and these references are provided before each performance.

This was the first time that these music icons were playing together at Chowdiah Memorial. And the presence of not only traditional classical music lovers but also a few foreigners emphasised the fact that music indeed has no boundaries.

Sheetal Sukhija