BUENOS AIRES: If you're ever in Buenos Aires don't forget to visit Groove, a trendy nightclub that should pleasantly surprise any Indian. Because at Groove you won't hear salsa or reggaton music, like you do at most such places, but instead soulful Sanskrit melodies that rent the air.
"I had the most unusual nightclub experience last weekend while I was at Groove," says R Viswanathan, India's ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay.
"The DJ was not playing salsa, samba or reggaton. Instead, the club was vibrating to Sanskrit songs... ' Jai jai Radha Ramana hari Bol', 'Jai Krishna Hare', 'Gurudeva Guru Om', 'Govinda Govinda' and 'Jai Shiva Shambo'."
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The concert Meditative Moments was brought to Houston by Art of Living Foundation founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. This is one of the largest NGO in the world promoting the unifying message of peace via stress free mind and violence free society.
All works of substance – be it in art or industry, need moments of inspiration, decision and perspiration. Kanniks Kannikeswaran as a composer, musicologist and Carnatic musician thrives on uncovering the facets of rich musical traditions. In 2002 when he was listening to Shivastutis by the Gundecha Brothers (Ramakant and Umakant Gundecha who are the Dhrupad stalwarts of India today), he was blown away by the similarity of those renderings with some of Dikshitar’s compositions. Read More
Photos Courtesy Art of Living Universe - Song by Sri Pradeep Somasundaram
With the support of Indian spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Bulgarian musicians put their Scottish counterparts in the shade with a world record for the largest bagpipe ensemble.
The 333 Bulgarian folk musicians gathered in central Sofia late on Wednesday, blowing their kaba-gaidas - bagpipes from the Rhodope mountains in the south of the Balkan country - to set the first such Guinness world record.
Dressed in traditional colorful Rhodope costumes, bagpipers started with a famous folk song - Delyu Haidutin - which was included in a Voyager golden record with the songs and sounds of our planet and sent as a message to space by NASA in 1977.
The event also aimed to bring a spot of joy to a nation which a survey showed was among the most unhappy on the planet. Having joined the European Union in 2007, it is still the bloc's poorest member and recovering from a deep recession.
"You have big roots. Do not lose them, but increase old tradition and culture," Shankar told an audience of over 4,000 people who gathered to hear his advice on how to be happy and listen to the bagpipers.
According to the Earth Institute's World Happiness Report released in April, Bulgaria was in the top 10 of more than 150 countries which were least satisfied with life and was the most unhappy in Europe.
To help came Indian guru Ravi Shankar - one of the world's most popular spiritual leaders who travels around the world to spread his vision of a stress-free, violence-free society.
His The Art of Living foundation is the world's biggest non-governmental organization, and 30 million people in 155 countries have attended Shankar's courses. Read More
CHANDIGARH: Art of Living will conduct a nationwide "Meditate India" initiative aimed at raising awareness about the benefits of meditation and providing an opportunity for people to internalize meditation in their lifestyle. Launched on May 13, which also is the birthday of The Art of Living founder, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the initiative will educate people that meditation is "Healthy to learn and easy to practice" and results in good health, peace and happiness. Read More