India Music CDs & DVDs

The most popular expression of poetry in Urdu and Persian, the ghazal, is known as much as a poetic form as it is as a genre of music. The ghazal has roots in seventh century Arabia and gained prominence in the 13th and 14th century due to works of Persian poets like Rumi and Hafiz. Indian poets started writing ghazal in Urdu and Persian in the eighteenth century. The name of the poem is based on the Arabic word, ghazal, which means ‘talking to a beautiful young lady.’ Ghazal originated in Arabia long before the birth of Islam. It is a derivative of the Arabic panegyric qaseeda, which consisted of three sections: the naseeb, the raheel and any standard form of poetry. The naseeb was the introductory portion of the qaseeda that dealt with themes of nostalgia, romance and longing.

"Mysticism is the inherent desire to seek oneness with the ultimate reality... the sense organs provide the only window to perceive this supreme state of being... This state is non-material, just like music is... the first musical instrument was the human body itself, and the first created music, the human voice... In mysticism, everything is vibration... all material forms made up of vibrations... The drum, through its rhythms, replicates these vibrations... the beating together of cymbals is said to signify the symbolic union of opposites... an activity which is necessary to maintain the harmony of the dynamic universe... the flute... gives forth a clear, pure and simple sound... both intensely melancholy and entrancingly sprightly... The sacredness and reverence for the flute can be gauged form the fact that it is often deified as an extension of Krishna\'s own beauty"

In ancient India, mantras formed a vital part of Vedic religion. It is possible that the Indus people also might have used similar practices to invoke their gods. Vedic mantras are derived mainly from the Vedas, which are primarily books of mantras, which go by different names such as the Riks, Samans and Yajus. They were chanted or sung or used in formulae in elaborate Vedic, sacrificial ceremonies. Mantras have traditionally been used in both ritual and spiritual practices and worldly activities for various ends. They still occupy an important place in Hinduism as the manifestations of divine speech and expression of gods and heavenly knowledge. In Hindu ritual practice and prayers, mantras are used to communicate with gods and invoke their power to achieve certain ends.