The voice within

In India, the Guru Shishya parampare is the traditional way of learning or acquiring knowledge. Even if it is the vedas, music or medicine, the knowledge was passed on by the Guru to his/her disciple in small amount for a long period of time. The Guru always has the capability to understand the capacity of a student and decides how much a student can learn. If a Guru is unhappy with his/her student, he/she might not teach anything but give an opportunity to assist them. A disciple completely surrenders to the Guru and offers "seva" in return for the knowledge. source: google images "Vidya" or "knowledge" is expressed as a sacred blessing in India, for which, a Guru used to choose his disciples carefully. A fear that the disciple may misuse his/her teachings, would make them teach only to family members. The outsiders accepted as disciples would be taught very less and only an exceptional talent could master a top level of knowledge by sheer perse...

The term devotional music doesn't have a particular definition. The language and cultural variation in India is very vast and the interpretations of Devotional music leads to fantastic diversity. Often performed at gatherings, Devotional music is commonly described as "Bhajan" all over India. "Gurubani" in Punjab, "Keertan" in Bengal, "Dasara Sahitya" in Karnataka, "Tevaram or Tirupugazh" in Tamil Nadu, "Ram charit manas" in Uttar Pradesh etc. Devotional Music are often a contribution to Gods and Godesses, or expression of feelings towards spirituality. The technical perfection of "taala" and "raga" are not mandatory in Devotional songs but the perfection increases the depth and evokes the spiritual feelings. It's said that pronunciation of the lyrics is of utmost importance. The contributions by Pandit Onkar Nath, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit D.V. Paluskar, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan created ...