Music - The Universal Language

(PRLEAP.COM) The origin of Indian music is shrouded in the mystery of time. Tradition has it that once the Gods roamed freely on earth and asked Brahma to give them a kridaniyaka (a toy or a weapon), that would divert men’s minds from things unholy to what is good and wonderful. And so the celestial art of sangeet was given to mankind for all times.

The basis for Indian music is "sangeet". Sangeet is a combination of three art forms: vocal music, instrumental music and dance. Although these three art forms were originally derived from the single field of stagecraft, today they have complex and highly refined individual characteristics. Classical music is considered a moral and spiritual redeemer. The divine qualities inherent in this are guru, vinaya and sadhana.

What is even more wonderful is that Indian music has one of the oldest unbroken traditions in the world. At the same time modern research has shown that Indian music has developed within a very complex interaction between different peoples of different races and cultures. From the earliest times India has been a land of ethnic diversity.

Indian classical arts flourished under the patronage of the states. The Mughal Court and smaller Maharajas contributed immensely to the growth and continuity of the traditional forms, especially in vocal and instrumental music.

With the passing away of the era of court patronage, classical music is dependent on small coteries of music lovers, some corporate sponsors and efforts of the government. However, the support they are able to provide falls far short of necessity.

The concept behind Legends of India, as the name itself suggests, is to nurture this great tradition, honour those who have devoted a lifetime in the search for the celestial and have passed on the mantle to new generations of believers. Legends of India strives to introduce the young to great music that will reveal to them the possibilities that lie within the human spirit and enable them to see visions and dream dreams. The patrons of the Society are Mr. Soli Sorabjee, who apart from being the former Attorney General of India, is also a great jazz aficionado. The other members are Mr. Lalit Mansingh, Shri Krishen Khanna, Prof. B.B.Bhattacharya, Shri A. Hariharan, Dr. Varsha Das, Shri Goutam Ghose, Shri Subodh Bhargava and Shri Govind Nihalani.


The Legends of India team works selflessly through the year to present two annual music festivals, one at Delhi, the other at Mumbai, organizes theatre festivals, baithaks and visual art exhibitions. We have been doing this over the last eight years, without a single break. Legends of India has also introduced Lifetime Achievement Awards to honour living legends who have contributed to the preservation and promotion of their chosen art forms.

This year Legends of India Awards Selection Committee decided that there would be one Lifetime Achievement Award, (a tribute to the legends, which we institutionalized four years ago,) in recognition of promoting and rejuvenating Indian dance forms. The Selection Committee is chaired by Mr. Soli Sorabjee, Lalit Mansingh, Shanta Serbjeet Singh, Pawan Verma, Yamini Krishnamurthy, Leela Venkatraman and Madhup Mudgal.

In the last seven years Legends of India has been sponsored by various corporate houses, both from the public and the private sectors. Legends of India is a non-profit organization and depends on such sponsorships to bring art lovers the best that the country has to offer. There is much talk of public-private partnerships. And this is an area where partnerships of this kind are sorely needed. Sustained efforts to promote and popularize the Indian art forms can only happen if the corporate world sees it as part of their social responsibility. At present the corporate world does not see any merit in promotion of classical art forms, though they are often seen propagating from the roof-top. In reality, it is only lip service. The corporate world in India, unfortunately, still believes in aping the West while the West is fast imbibing our art and culture. Even more urgent is a defined government policy concerning the promotion of art and culture. Government agencies support the cause at times (through Jan- Pahchan), but there is no clear direction or planned effort.

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