Music and migrations

The migration of Indian musical instruments to the countries surrounding India at an early period forms an interesting subject of study. In Pre-Buddhist times, India seems to have had commercial and other relations with Egypt, Sumer and other Middle-Eastern countries.

Buddhism was a great force in the expansion of Indian culture. The period between the 4th  and 7th centuries was, for the music of India, a period of great expansion. That Indian musical instruments migrated to Central Asia during this period is proved by the existence of Indian instruments in the wall paintings, at Quizil  Yoktan, Tuanhuang and other Buddhist centres of Central Asia. The mandolin-shaped veena which frequently occurs in the sculptures at Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda and Gandhara seems to have been introduced to Central Asia by the Buddhist missions. This veena became pipa in China and was changed to the biwa when it reached Japan in the 8 century.

Sculptural representation of musical instruments depicted in Borobudar, Prambanam, Champa and other places confirm that the music of India spread to neighbouring countries in early centuries. The illustrations of musical instruments at Borobudar show a remarkable similarity to those found in India. The Kachchapi veena attributed to Goddess Saraswati still survives in the Phillipines where it is known as kadjapi.

       

musical instruments

Instrumental music has played a prominent part in the evolution of music of both orient and the occident. Man became early conscious of the fundamental principles of musical science, through musical instruments. The monophonous voice was not of much help to him in practically working out and understanding the various musical laws and phenomena. The ancient harp helped the scholars to comprehend the nature of consonant and dissonant intervals, the frequency ratios of notes, the harmonic series and the method of deriving scales by the process of model shift of tonic.

India is perhaps the earliest country in the history of world culture to realise the value of absolute music. In the course of her long history, India evolved a very wide variety of musical instruments. These were classified under four heads, namely tata(stringed instruments), sushira(wind instruments), avanaddha(percussion in like drums) and ghana(instruments which are struck against each other). There are more than 500 of them, each with a distinct name, shape, construction, technique of playing and quality of tone colour.

Ancient Sanskrit literature and treatises on the science of music commonly refer to Indian musical instruments. Ancient Indian sculpture also depicts musical instruments with an astounding wealth of detail. Numerous varieties of veenas, drums, pipes, gongs and bells are shown in the ancient sculptures of Bharhut, Mathura, Gandhara, Sanchi, Konark, the temples of southern India and the paintings of Ajantha and Tanjavoor.

musical pillars of Hampi

The genius of India is fully reflected in the complex finger technique seen in her instrumental music. This technique is one of the gradual growth and represents the accumulated wisdom of the instrumentalists of the past. Skill in finger technique is acquired after many years of practice. 

music and vedic period

Music and dance have been the chief forms of religious expression in India. The origin of music is attributed to gods and goddesses and to mythological figures like gandharvas and kinnaras who figure in all the stories and practice of music. 

Music and dancing were among the amusements of the vedic age. The Samaveda is a standing monument to the wonderful skill and the originality of the ancients in the science of vocal music. The chanted Veda is the still the oldest extant combination of words definitely intended to be sung. In fact, the classical music of India originates from Vedic chants. There were professional musicians in the vedic age and a great variety of instruments as can be inferred from the frequent mention of veena players, flute players, conch blowers, drummers and so on.

The specially composed RigVeda, consisting of invocations to the powers that be to be present at the sacrifices, refers to the singing , dancing and to the musical instruments that accompany them.

   

Music and food

Actually, music and food go hand to hand. Music creates energy, it creates an atmosphere that develops the flavour of food. A good food can become excellent with the appropriate music because music will always make everything we eat better.

 

Generally, people think they judge the taste of the food with the four senses. The taste, the view, the smell and the touch but the heard is also very important! In fact, chips taste much better when they are crispy! It means the sound changes our perception of the taste of food logically, it is easy to understand that music has a huge impact on our perception of a dish.

 

 

A lot of factors influence the way we eat - both internal and external. Several studies have shown that listening music while eating is likely to increase our food and drink intake.

 

''If music be the food of love, play on, Give me excess of it; that surfeiting, the appetite may sicken and so die'' - William Shakespeare

 

INFLUENCE OF MUSIC ON HEALTH

Hearing good music is of as much importance to the healthy life of a person as wholesome food, water and air. Food, water and air are important of physical well being. But man possesses such a thing as soul, in addition to physical body. Mere nourishment of the physical body will not make a man have a full life. The soul can be nourished only through fine arts. the aesthetic hunger in a person is legitimate and gets satisfied only when he listens to good music or reads fine poetry or sees splendid specimens of painting, sculpture and architecture. Music is an art that appeals to us through our aural sense. It is the language of emotion and has a universal appeal.

The music has salubrious effect on human nervous system. The frequency of the beating heart, beating faster than the normal can be brought to the normal frequency through music. Studies have shown that music gives you relief and allows you to reduce stress. It improves attention, memory, physical coordination and mental development. It also helps in regenerating brain cells. 

Rasa in Music

The idea of rasa are feeling is one of the fundamental concepts of Indian aesthetics. The nine rasas are impressively depicted in some of the ancient sculptures and paintings. The subject of rasas is treated by Bharatha Muni in his Natya Shastra.

 

The rasa in common parlance means juice, essence, satisfaction or taste. The classical list of nine rasas are Sringara rasa (Love), Vira rasa (Courage), Karuna rasa (Compassion), Adbhuta rasa (Surprise), Hasya rasa (Laughter), Bahayanaka rasa (Terror), Bheebhatsya rasa (Disgust), Raudra rasa (Anger), Shantha rasa (Peace). These nine rasas are not exhaustive; there are also other rasas like Vatsalya and Patriotism. Rasanubhava through  music is an experience and as a psychological basis.

 

Treatises on music in Sanskrit and the vernaculars, written during the ancient medieval an modern period exists, but few of them have dealt with this subject at length. The subject of "rasa in music" as not received as much attention as rasa in literature and drama.

music and temples

For many centuries, temples in India have been not only places of worship, but also places of learning. Students pursued their studies under their Acharayas, in the holy precincts of temples in a spirit of reverence and devotion.

 

 

 

In India, Music and dance were never conceived of as mere items of entertainment, but as subjects of worthy of serious study and practice by even the greatest men and women of the land. They helped the thinking men and women to understand something of infinite. Temples in the past also played an important part in the preservation and development of fine arts. The institution of music in temples was conceived and planned in a spirit of offering to the Deity and was not something optional, but an integral and compulsory part of temple ritual and worship. It is not without significance that Divinities and Celestials are associated with music, musical instruments and dance. The performance of music in temple rituals had a special significance. 

 

 

 

From the 15 century onwards 'Bhajans' as a special form of worship took shape. The bhakti movement of the medieval period gave a great impetus to this form of worship and the masses took it with great fervour and enthusiasm. Bhajans came to be performed on sacred days. Men and women, old and young all alike took part in the democratic form of worship, either as singers or as a devout listeners. In fact bhajans became the first introduction for the child to the realm of music.