Kabir lovers were excited to hear that Shabnam Virmani was in Pondicherry past weekend and wanted to meet all her Auroville friends in Kabir. She was here with her friend Vipul and also Bela, who are part of the Bangalore Kabir mandali/toli. For that reason they've organized impromptu satsang on Sunday at the New Creation Music Room. Shabnam was singing and explaining the deeper spiritual meaning of the songs, in her inimitable style. The event was kindly hosted in Devasmita & Satyakam's beautiful house. Read more

All was invited to participate in the Literary Festival of Kamba Ramayana on 31st March 2013 Sunday at Bharat Nivas, Auroville. A whole day full of lectures, discussions, music, dance and theater lead by great scholars and reputed personalities to address our students, staff and public from Auroville region. This event was organized by the Tamil Heritage Centre to celebrate the Kamba Literary Festival. Kamba lived almost 1000 years ago during the Chola dynasty from the centre part of Tamil Nadu and wrote Ramayana in Tamil. Read more

Like every year, Upasana Design Studio celebrated Holi, the Colors Festival, on Wednesday 27th of March. In the North of India, it's New Year, but everywhere else it's also the beginning of summer. As soon as the guests arrived in Upasana, organizers and other participants threw on them colored powder. They even stopped motor bike on the road to make them join this joyful moment, full of harmless colors and laughter. People shared snack together, listened to music and danced in the garden. At the end of the afternoon, they even threw water ! Read more

At Pitanga (Auroville) on Monday 25th of March 2013 students of Nandita Di Di performed their annual Indian Classical Vocal Concert. The warm ambiance, the beautiful flower arrangements and the quality of the chosen songs has made the hour of the performance worth to remember. Most of the composition comes from the classical Indian tradition but some were composed by Nandita Di Di. Singers were accompanied by Debhashis Das on tabla and the harmonium was played by the teacher herself. The audience appreciated very much the event. Read more

Tonight at 7.30pma at Pitanga an Indian Classical Vocal Concert - Moods of Kalyaan.Also at 7:30 pm but in Pondicherry within Bonjour India 2013 events French Alliance presents Long Night of French Literature at Maison Colombani. On Saturday at 8pm at Visitor Centre The German Pavilion presents EACH ONE TEACH ONE and the 5 ELEFANTS , which will be Breakdance and rap music for peace - Indo-German fusion.Under the auspices of the Tamil Heritage Centre and the Arulvazhi Training Centre, a workshop "ALL LIFE IS YOGA" on 29th, 30th of March Read more

Dr. Don Hanlon Johnson encountered various methods of deepening body experience and changing body structure-Feldenkrais, F.M. Alexander, Rolfing, Sensory Awareness, Orgononomy, Authentic Movement, Middendorf Breath Work, Rosen Work, Continuum, Body-Mind Centering, Osteopathy, and a host of others. In today's afternoon session of the workshop organized in Auroville, he explores with the participants breathing techniques and the feelings and fears connected with this very important part of our daily life.

Professor Dr. Don Hanlon Johnson is in Auroville. Today was the first day of a two days workshop about the role that body practices play in the spiritual transformation of the individual. The participants explored how be consciously aware in the physical body. Followed by a discussion on how physical touch can heal the physical body and also emotional scars of the past. Professor Johnson is the founder of the Somatics Program, the first of its kind, established in 1983. Read more

With Jill - member of Auroville Theatre Group, Chankaya - a writer and director of Prelud and Vivek - an actor we were trying to find out what has triggered for Prelude to come on the stage. On solo performance, where we can see how society does define one's life, the team was working more than a year, and it was a true collaboration in creative process. The main conflict of the character lies in the relationship between the mother and son, where she represents home, religious and moral backgrounds and he tries to brake those in secrecy. Read more

On the minimalistic setting of the stage, which comes to life with light effects and sound, a man relives certain moments of his life. Vivek Vijayakumaran in this solo performance brings to the audience amazingly vivid all those moments which seems to be the ones defining the man's life. His questions are also very intimately connected with social parameters, hypocrisy and religious beliefs. Great theater solo performance touching essentials of Indian diverse society in cultural and religious backgrounds. Read more

In this the last lecture of the series of 4 Nishtha brought back the rhythm and tone that was used originally in Sarasvati. So instead of having the dry mechanical tone and rhythm we now have the chants by the Rishis in beautiful poetic sounds and rhythms as was heard originally in the vision and spiritual experience of the Rishis of the Rig-Veda. Nishtha has translated all main and sub-hymns to the Goddess Sarasvati in the Rig-Veda. Comments of Sri Aurobindo's book 'The Secret of the Veda' where also included. Read more

One of the youngest President Award Winning “A” Grade’ Sarod artiste of All India Radio & National Television- Kolkata, Abhisek has won the hearts of discerning audiences worldwide with his maturity, depth & perfection already at the age of 28. Abhisek was initiated in Sarod at an early age of 6 & trained under the tutelage of his father as well as Guru, eminent Sarod player Pt. Alok Lahiri & becoming one of his premier disciples. Read more

Guha is acknowledged as one of the finest thumri singers of the Poorab Ang among the younger generation of singers. Her voice is strikingly tuneful, exhibiting exquisite tonal malleability and is remarkably suited for khayal recital. Her style of rendition displays a mellow blending of vidya, impeccable raagdari and a rich gayaki that is both creative and aesthetically appealing. Her collection of rare thumri, dadra, kajri, chaiti, etc in pure Benaras tradition is also matchless.

Sri Kalyanjit Das and Sri Somen Nandy came together on Monday night to give us a great preformance of Sitar and Tabla together. Kalyanjit Das was born in 1992 in a highly enriched musical family of Kolkata & is one of the young talents in the field of “Indian Classical Music”. Sri Somen Nandy was born into a purely classical music family at Burdwan in West Bengal. He started his training in tabla under Pt. Pankaj Chatterjee, a renowned tabla maestro of the Farukhabad Gharana and a disciple of Ustad Keramatullah Khan. Read more

Dr. Anand Kumar, from The All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi is talking about love. Dr. Kumar says that there are scientific researches about love and way to measure it (with advanced tools) on the physiological level. In the past Plato was trying to define love with mathematical formulas. Now brain scan (funcional IMR) is defining the part of brain involved in this very important sentiment. For sure love it's the most powerful driving force of the human being . Listen to Dr. Anand & download the presentation clicking here. Read more

Dr. Christopher Macann, re-traces the journey to the Vedas. He is a European philosopher, with original work that carries the inspiration from Sri Aurobindo. Christopher Macann was born in India to a diplomatic family, educated at an English boarding school and trained in philosophy at Oxford University. Since completing his doctorate at the Sorbonne in Paris, he taught philosophy at several Universities in the USA, spent two years in Heidelberg on a Humboldt Foundation research fellowship, and lectured extensively in the UK and France. Read more

In this the second lecture about the Goddess Sarasvati, Nishtha translated and explained more of the poetry. Nishtha has translated all main and sub-hymns to the Goddess Sarasvati in the Rig-Veda. Participants had a chance to hear how the Rishis of the Rig-Veda chanted about what they heard and seen in the spiritual worlds as they where invoking the Goddess Sarasvati. There will be two succeeding lectures on Wednesday in Verite Hall 3-5 pm. Read more

Last night at Pitanga Jean-Christophe on flute and Teresa on tampura has offered to a numerous audience a meditation, where music supposed to be used as a medium to get into meditative state. Since this was not a concert, and its purpose was not to entertain, Jean-Christophe has chosen an Indian raga - Malcance, and invited the audience to travel on the sound of the flute with him. Read more

Nishtha has translated all main and sub-hymns to Sarasvati in the Rig-Veda. In this first lecture Nishtha brought back the rhythm and tone that was used originally in Sarasvati. So instead of having the dry mechanical tone and rhythm we now have the chants by the Rishis in beautiful poetic sounds and rhythms. Participants also had the chance to join in the chants to the Goddess Sarasvati (the flow of Divine Inspiration) as was heard originally in the vision and spiritual experience of the Rishis of the Rig-Veda. Read more

Two hours of pure energy at the last concert of the Temple Rock! Performed in Kalabhumi. past Friday 8th of February, and it was very well attended. The audience have really enjoined the fusion of Carnatic ragas inspired by western rock, jazz and funk remembrances. Vocals and Kanjira - Krishna Kumar. Keyboards - Aman Mahajan. Electric Guitar - Jay Sithar. Tavil - Sowri Rajan. Saxophone - Matt Littlewood. Bass - Mishko M ba. A mature band with great musicians. Read more

Bharat Nivas, the Pavilion of India, holded the homage to Thyagaraja. It started two years back with the beginning of Telugu Samskriti Kendramu. This year the homage started in the morning with a procession with chantings from the gate of Unity Pavilion. At SAWCHU started the traditional musical homage of Thyagaraja kritis by the Auroville students, teachers and professional musicians. Songs of other composers where also offered in the spirit of devotion of the event. Shri N. Bala Baskar, Secretary, Auroville Foundation was the chief guest. Read more

Bahh” is a Bengali word to express the inexpressible (literally means.."what words?) The group is an expansive collective of instrumentalists, percussionist and vocalists based in the West of Ireland. On their opening song Mattu broke a string on his Sarod but the band soon recovered to wow the big crowd that gathered to listen to them. While the music has it’s roots in the Indian Classical tradition, the collective’s core members bring with them a range of influences and backgrounds. They released their debut album 'Worlds Colliding' in 2010. Read more

In today's news we feature Agnes talking about preparations for Lively Up Your Earth (LUYE)- eco music festival which will happen on next Saturday 2nd of February at Solitude farm. Bharat Nivas Group invites the community to gather at 8.30am at Bharat Nivas, Pavilion of Indian Culture in International Zone where they will share flag-hoisting, National Anthem and sharing of Prasad in order to celebrate the Republic Day of india. On that day also Aikiyam School will share cultural program with an open exhibition. Live music on 27th at CRIPA. Read more

Renowned Dhrupad Singer Ustad Faiyaz Wasifuddin Dagar represents the twentieth unbroken generation of musicians of the Dagar family. He is the nephew and son of Dagar Brothers (Ud. N.Zahiruddin & Ud. N.Faiyazuddin). He brought Dhrupad to the world music scene with his CD recorded for UNESCO, that is considering including Dhrupad in the list of World Intangible Heritage. He has performed at several prestigious venues around the world. President of the Dhrupad Society, he is dedicated to preserving Dhrupad in its purity. Read more

Aurovillians had the pleasure to listen to Prof. Sasse on Thursday giving a lecture about Korean culture and how it has been influenced by Indian culture. Touching also on the subject of the arrival of Buddhism in Korea and the creation of the Korean alphabet. Participants had possibility to write their names in traditional Korean script. There was also performances of Taekwondo, improvised dancing and traditional Korean songs. The evening was closed by the audience learning a Korean mantra of well being. Read more

Kalapini Komkali is an Indian Classical vocalist of the younger generation with wholly original music which is melodious and extremely rich. She is daughter and student of the legendary vocalist late Kumar Gandharva. At Pitanga last night she was accompanied by Shri Sanjay Deshpande, a leading table player form Pune, India. He has been trained under two great table Maestros Taalyogi Pandit Suresh Talwalkar and Ustad Alla Rakha Khan saheb. On harmonium was Lakshmi Santra. Read more

Last Wednesday the 12-12-12 at Bharat Nivas Auditorium Auroville, Bharata Natyam School (Rasika) presented the Bharata Natyam Preformance (South Indian classical dance with musicians). Seraphina presented "The Rainbow Dancer", accompanied by Srimati Shanty Rayapoulle on Nattuvangam, Sri Isai Ma Mani A.Susairaj on Vocal, Sri Kalai Gnana Mani Thirumundi S. Arun on Mrdangam, and Sri Shri Ratna T. Sreenivasan on Violin. They explored the divine colours and their existence to part on the rainbow path towards the Lord's heart ! Read more

Invitation to act tomorrow at 4.30pm at Unity Pavilion - The Collective & Priorities & Values Action Meeting. Tomorrow at 6pm Yatra Arts Foundation in Kuilappalayam invites us to the 7th anniversary celebrations with cultural program. On Sunday 28th of October between 4 to 5pm At Savitri Bhavan in International Zone Amal Kiran (K.D. Sethna) will release his Writings on Savitri , Part Two: Collected Comments; Part One: Essays was published in 2010. 4th of November one day workshop on alcohol dependency awareness organized by LEC and CONCERN. Read more

Ganesha Chaturthi also known as Vinayaka Chaturthi, also called Vinayagar in Tamil Nadu, is the Hindu festival celebrated on the occasion of birthday of Lord Ganesha, the son of Shiva and Parvati, who is believed to bestow his presence on earth for all his devotees in the duration of this festival. Here's the recording of the celebration happened in a small Ganesha temple nearby Auroville. Nandita Di with her armonium conducted a choir composed by children aged between 8 and 10 and adults. Debasish Dass accompanied on tabla. Read more

Matri Arpanam - a once in a Blue Moon(*) happening. 30th August 2012. As twilight descended over the Park of Unity the candles around the stage became brighter while the fragrance of jasmine and tuberose from the flower decoration wafted ever stronger in the air. The marvel and wonder, however was the beautiful moon that hung in the sky like the quiet blessing of the Universal Mother who consented to make the evening as beautiful as possible for Her children who came to experience this special evening at the amphitheater of the Matrimandir. Read more

Mooralala Marwada is the seventh generation musician in his family , from Janana village of Kutch, he belongs to the Meghwal community and sings bhajans and kafis. Sindhi Sufi poet Shah Abdul Bhita poetry has been preserved and carried forward by only a few families of Kutch and Moora Lala is carrying the flame of his poetry in his music. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv9_3MW_nJA - www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcI_6ToTuhY -/www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNWqe-xS1AU&feature=related -www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/article913667.ece - Read more