Raga is a universal principle of thought in Indian musical culture. What is raga

16.03.2019


Raga (Skt.राग - paint, tone, color, as well as a cry, exclamation, noise, Hindi- passion) is a fundamental concept of South Asian sound and musical thinking. It is fully and multifacetedly represented in the classical music of the north and south of Hindustan, covering both the actual music (vocal and instrumental) and the sphere musical theater and dance.

Formed in the musical culture of India about two thousand years ago, the concept of raga until today determines the originality of musical thinking in such countries of the region as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, manifesting itself both in high musical traditions proper and in the so-called semi-classical , "light" classical genres, and to some extent even in regional-traditional forms and types of music-making.

As an artistic phenomenon that focuses the specific qualities of thinking inherent in the civilization of South Asia, stew has a uniqueness that distinguishes it from similar in terms of level and degree of development of the principles of sound thinking in other regions of the world (Arabic maqam, Iranian dastgah, European tonal-harmonic thinking, etc.).

Each cultural and civilizational system develops a special attitude towards sound and sound, inherent only to it, its own mechanisms of sound production and methods of perception and processing of sound matter. At a certain stage in the formation of a culture, under the influence of certain factors, these sound parameters crystallize into a system of musical thinking, which is based on a kind of “phonotope” of a given culture, fixing its deep genetic qualities. At the same time, the formation of this kind of sound system can be considered a factor marking the onset of maturity of a given culture.

In the civilization of India, already in the earliest of the documented periods of its development, in the so-called. Vedic era (ser. II-I millennium BC), a special perception of sound is formed, which later, at the turn of our era, was developed in developed philosophical doctrines. The specificity of this Indian "sound archetype" can be indicated by the following most important parameters:

Attitude to sound as a universal matter, which has the ability to harmonize the elements of the universe, which in turn leads to

Awareness of the infinite spatial and temporal multidimensionality of the sound substrate ( nada), which fills the Universe and generates vibrations that find their final expression in real sound.

This kind of universal-cosmological perception of sound, enhanced by the ecological and geographical features of this region (in particular, the extreme diversity and favorable natural and climatic conditions), contributed to the fact that in Indian culture, sound as such interacts with other sensual and semantic "rows": color, gesture, plasticity of sculptural forms - exists in inseparable unity with them, modeling with its multidimensionality the widely understood multidimensionality and inclusiveness of the Cosmos.

Indian culture as a whole is characterized by a multiple perception of the world and the same detailed (sometimes even too much for the European consciousness, more prone to building strict generalized logical structures) transformation of the picture of the world into art forms. In development itself musical forms the action of the same tendency entails the saturation of the vocal sound with the timbre colors of numerous instruments and the development of a synthetic, and in essence an integral vocal-instrumental type of sound, based on the desire to cover the widest possible range of phenomena and meanings of the Universe.

All these factors together form the basis ragi as a universal type of sound thinking developed in India. Raga- a largely holistic-system sound model of the entire indian culture, that “magic crystal”, through which the qualities of attitude and mentality inherent in this civilization are clearly and definitely visible.

The attempts sometimes made to interpret the stew only in its melodic incarnation or to associate it with the monody of the European type seem to us scientifically incorrect and do not correspond to the whole variety of manifestations of this unique sound concept, truly unparalleled in any other musical culture of the world.

One should also take into account the obvious fact that the very European concept melody in the entire volume of its semantic and musical components, coming from the European context, is in no way comparable with the rag type of thinking and deployment, based on other content and procedural principles. In this sense, the phenomenon of raga is much broader than just its components —  “melodic type”, “scale”, “mode”, or even “melody”, as the essence of a raga is sometimes narrowly defined.

If we generalize the European ideas about the phenomenon of a classical-romantic type of melody, we can say that by this we mean one of the voices of texture (most often the upper one), polyphonic or homophonic-harmonic, which has a certain length, a logical sequence of development, an internal intonation-semantic structure , one or another fret-sound characteristics and is perceived as a kind of semantic-semantic integrity.

Often in European music of different eras and genres, melody as a self-sufficient structural and content element of the musical fabric acts as a dominant meaningful voice that often does not require additional textural design. This kind of linear-melodic structure, if present in the raga, is only in the form of a brief emblematic chant. packar, which, being formed as a result of the scale-melodic development in the first phase of the raga, - alap- then accompanies the stew throughout its sound, serving as its "identification mark", i.e. an element composed of the succession of sounds characteristic of the mode and scale of this particular raga model.

The deployment itself as a whole is built as a chain of successively “building up” sound “floors” on top of each other: first, the main tone is played, then its subordination with other sounds of the scale is established, i.e. the elements of scale development come into force, and so on. It is in this idea of ​​“unrolling” the raga model in a spiral, turn by turn, up to the very end, which is always open in meaning, that the meaning of the rag type of thinking lies. In addition, the sound "score" of the raga is never limited to the sound of the solo instrument or voice.

There is always a voice percussion instrument voicing the metrorhythmic line. The ensemble also contains one or more instruments that create a trail of sound nuances, overtones - that sound environment from which the sound of the raga is "weaved". Thus, it is obvious that the very principles of the sound formation of the raga as a procedural phenomenon exclude the presence of a structure similar to a melody.

Generally, stew as a set of principles and rules for deploying the sound-musical fabric, like any other concept of a similar level, it has its own developed grammatical system. Its basis is the philosophical concept of universal sound nada, formed in the Indian classical philosophy and proceeding from the understanding of the metaphysical, absolute and universal nature of sound.

The basis for music-making, according to Indian theories, is the "struck" hypostasis of sound, which manifests itself in Indian music primarily through the human body. Actually, the fundamental principle of ragic deployment is the musical tone, or more precisely the tone zone, - swara- absorbing a number of microtones shruti and having a self-sufficient information field for constructing more complex components of the musical fabric: sound scales-scales thata in the north Indian (or mela in the south Indian) tradition, modal relationships of tones ( wadianuvadisamvadivivadi), stabilized musical and verbal structures bandish, sound garlands-tans and others.

Being built on the basis of these musical and semantic elements, stew thus, it is a complex grammatical structure, each level of which reveals new facets and shades of its content. It should be noted that raga, as a concept gravitating towards semantic universalism, also covers the concept that in Indian classical music and dance art can claim to be the equivalent of a European phenomenon. music(or musical art), although it should be noted that the semantic parallels or analogies that may arise here are built more on the similarity of the scale of phenomena than on their content.

We are talking about the triad that has developed in India high arts, united by a common sound beginning - sangeet, or singing, playing musical instruments and dancing. To them, no doubt, one can also add the forms of classical theater, which always presupposes in India the presence of a musical series. Of course, all the various sound forms included in this category are based on the principles of rago thinking. And if we recall that in Indian miniature painting there was a special tradition of the iconographic embodiment of ragas - the so-called. ragamala, then in this sense, rago thinking can be considered as a universal concept that subjugates various types of art in their single co-sound.

In addition, the attitude to sound as a matter that absorbs the vibrations of space is combined in Indian musical culture with ideas about time, real, physical and mythological, and the processes of its regulation, developed by this civilization in the same detail and in a peculiar way. Raga as a principle of organization of sound space, and tala- the cyclic concept of time, are inextricably linked and constitute the foundation on which the musical culture of this region has been firmly based for more than two millennia.

Thus, in the very general plan raga can be defined as the principle of dynamic-cyclic unfolding of the sound-temporal fabric, which is characteristic of Indian classical musical thinking. The universality of the coverage of the phenomena of the surrounding world, embodied in ragic thinking, is also manifested at the level of the relationship between the sound space and the person placed in it and perceiving sound streams in one way or another.

From these positions, raga can be defined as a system of correlation of sound, music, and a person with his psychophysiological, emotional, sensory and ethical potential. The key to understanding this aspect, which is the most important in raga aesthetics, can be the very etymology of the word stew. It is based on the Sanskrit root ranj - "color, shade."

Thus, raga must be understood as a sound matter that produces a certain mental state and “coloring” the psycho-emotions of a person. The action of the general aesthetic theory has spread to rago thinking race, defining in Indian arts the presence of a deep psycho-emotional, ethical and aesthetic context of a work of art, its ability to “introduce” a person into one of the nine emotional states fixed by the theory [see. 5].

The methods of influence of certain sound complexes on a person were, obviously, identified and developed by Indian culture in ancient times and then fixed in raga models, each of which is designed to bring the universal “sound” and the sound in man and nature into conformity. Characteristic and indicative of this culture with its desire to establish a balance of all natural and cosmological forces (including phenomena related to sound in one way or another) is the tendency to reveal the deep interdependence that exists between natural biorhythms and their corresponding sound models.

It is this harmony of natural and human principles, so characteristic of all Indian culture, that becomes the conceptual basis of the raga. The hypothetical substantiation of this trend allows us to say that the tradition of seasonal (as well as daily) correspondence of ragas arose in ancient india as a reflection of magical, ritual and cult ideas about sound creation as essential way impact on superpowers, nature and man.

The origin of this theory was probably the northwest of the South Asian subcontinent - the territory where the Vedic (or Vedic) culture was formed, which became the substrate for many cultural conquests of the region in the future, and where seasonal differences are very significant. Moving south, it changed significantly, “blurred”, underwent transformation, adapting to local conditions, in many respects not similar to the original ones, and, therefore, lost its primary meaning.

It can be assumed that already in ancient times in India, certain “taboos” on the performance of different types of music at one time or another were empirically developed and selected, due to ideas about its magical effect on human psychophysiology, as well as human interaction with the outside world. In subsequent periods of the existence of the musical culture of the region, with the development and desacralization of musical art, this feeling went into deeper and deeper layers of culture, its “unconscious”, losing its original meaning, but continuing to be preserved as the most important cultural constant.

In light of this, the interest in this problem among modern scientists is not accidental. Apparently, many cultures of antiquity were aware of such a relationship, but in the music of India it has retained its significance, having passed through the centuries up to the present day. From scientific research recent decades we can conclude that there is a very definite relationship between the physiological state of a person, his psyche, time of day or season, and through the directed influence of music on the body, you can achieve the necessary (positive or negative) results.

The ancient Indians, as can be assumed, discovered this relationship in the deepest antiquity, but interpreted it mystically, also resorting to explanations of a natural philosophical nature: such, in particular, are the theories of the correlation of sound and various parts human body, or sound, and various components that form the human body: phlegm, mucus, water, yellow and black bile, etc. .

What is certain is that raha thinking somehow absorbs all these theories and implements them in a highly refined, developed form, and it is up to modern scientists to reveal them and put them to the service of man. It is no coincidence that numerous descriptions of the impact of certain raga models on nature and man, as well as the strict relationships established by Indian scientific thought between the sounds and phenomena of nature and parts of the human body [see. 6], known also by other ancient cultures, in particular, Chinese.

Indian culture has become, perhaps, the only one among many that has also developed the so-called. theory of temporal correspondence" of rag models and time of day. Thereby stew firmly inscribed by the Indians in the universal cycle of being. It has already been repeatedly said above that a deep philosophical, ethical-aesthetic, psycho-emotional comprehension of reality, embodied in raga and constituting its essence, is realized in specific musical activity through a number of complex and developed grammatical rules and practical aspects.

The most important of them, which determined the formation and development of raga as a concept, is its correlation with a high layer of music ( gandharva, marga), and, consequently, with a learned, treatise tradition. Over the two millennia of its existence, dozens of treatises appeared, in which the theory of raga received a detailed philosophical, aesthetic and theoretical development.

Among the most significant, it is necessary to name such of them as "Gitalankara" (the turn of the era), "Natyashastra" (first centuries AD) - a treatise, which is now regarded as containing the basic, fundamental principles of aesthetics and the theory of various arts; The classics also include Dattilam by Dattila (first centuries AD), Brihaddeshi by Matangi (c. V-VII centuries), Sangitamakaranda by Narada (c. 9 c.), Sangitaratnakara by Sharngadeva (XIII c.), "Sarangadhara paddhati" by Amir Khusrow (XIV century), "Ragamala" attributed to Tansen (XVI century), "Ragamanjari" by Pundarika Vitthala (c. 1600), "Sangitadarpana" by Damodar Mishra (c. 1625 d.), “Chaturdandi Prakashika” by Venkatamakhi (c. 1660), as well as the works written in modern times by Purushottami Mishra, Tulaji, Krishnananda Vyasa, Vishnu Narayana Bhatkhande, Vishnu Digambara Paluskar, Surindro Mohun Tagore and other Indian musical scientists.

It was in the treatise tradition, successively developing from antiquity to the present day, that the concept of raga received a consistent and multi-level substantiation and was developed in the spirit of Indian scholarship; it has become not only a reflection in the theory of certain practical skills and information, but has turned, in essence, into a special area rag knowledgeragdar, which has become a vast arena of scientific reflection and has turned over time into an independent, largely self-sufficient field of creativity.

It was the reliance on the rag theory that allowed the ancient Indian authors to define rag music as shastriya sangeet- "learned art", art based on shastra(Skt.शस्त्र), or code of laws and regulations. The crystallization of the idea of ​​raga and its conceptual substantiation takes place in the first centuries of our era - a period that is one of the most interesting and crucial stages in the formation of the musical and cultural system of India.

In the history of the subcontinent, this was the time of the formation and flourishing of large state-imperial formations: the empires of the Mauryas, Guptas, Kushans in the north, Pallavas in the south of Hindustan. The most fruitful for the development of social and spiritual life, science, and art was the period of the Gupta dynasty (IV-VI centuries AD), which researchers consider the stage of the highest rise and prosperity ancient civilization India, or the era of the Sanskrit classics.

At this time, a powerful empire was being formed in the Ganges valley, based in its existence on the advanced economic foundations of that time. The presence of a well-organized state system, skillful diplomatic and military operations of the representatives of this dynasty led to a significant territorial growth of the empire, covering by the 6th century. almost the entire north of the subcontinent, as well as to the flourishing of statehood in all its attributes.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that in the pre-Muslim history of Indian civilization, this time can be considered the “golden age” of Indian, or rather, Hindu culture. Similar periods of imperial stability and prosperity, as history shows different regions and civilizations are associated, as a rule, with the development of clear normative codes not only in the field of politics and law, which is important for the normal functioning of imperial institutions, but also in all other areas of the spiritual infrastructure of society, including art, which is perceived as the most important attribute of power and the expression of an idea. her greatness.

It is deeply natural that the almost two-century period of the existence of the Gupta empire gave the world such samples of the "old" Indian classics as the tradition of Sanskrit drama (the dramas of Kalidasa and Vyasa), the frescoes of Ajanta, the collection of moralizing tales-parables "Panchatantra", inspiring representatives different cultures; literary versions of the epic poems "Mahabharata", "Ramayana" and many others imperishable monuments civilizations of Hindustan, which became its symbols.

The desire for standardization and justification at a high philosophical, aesthetic and theoretical level of various aspects of the functioning of the state, legal and cultural institutions, has clearly affected the sphere of sound thinking. Sanskrit grammatical tradition, founded several centuries before the beginning of our era. such outstanding scholars as Panini and Patanjali, authors of the famous classical works on Sanskrit grammar, is enriched, as the researchers note, with a new lexicographic direction. One of the most interesting and significant works of this kind is Amarasinha's Sanskrit dictionary "Amarakosha" (5th-6th centuries).

Divided into three main sections and a number of subsections, it gives a synomimic series of words and terms denoting phenomena social life, nature, objects material culture, etc. . It can be assumed that this kind of work was not isolated, and this, in turn, allows us to think that the desire for differentiation and classification of phenomena, for their rigid ordering and systematization is becoming a characteristic feature of the thinking of the era, seeking to put the diversity of the world into harmonious and logical forms. .

It should be noted that Indian culture as a whole throughout all the centuries of its existence was based on the basis of two dialectically balancing principles: on the one hand, the desire for a deep-intuitive comprehension of the universe, on the other hand, to constant reflection (and even reflection on reflection, that is, creation of an exegetical tradition), the desire to classify and fix as accurately as possible the smallest details existential series - "skill", in which the Indian civilization, as it seems, has remained unsurpassed.

It is symptomatic in the light of the foregoing that in the treatise of Matangi "Brihaddeshi" relating specifically to this historical and cultural period, among several groups giti(chants) a group of ragas appears giti, which includes the first famous titles raga: Takka, Sauvira, Malava-Panchama, Khadava, Botta-raga, Hindolaka and Takka-Kaushika. Each raga, in turn, had a group of derivatives ( bhasa And vibhasa). Thus, the group of chants, singled out either socio-functionally, or regionally, or based on certain grammatical norms, about which we can now only build hypotheses, are undoubtedly given priority positions.

This is evidenced by the fact that in the same treatise Matangoy gave a brief, but at the same time exhaustive definition of the essence of raga, which became a kind of "truth for all time" for all subsequent generations of Indian musicians and music scientists. According to him, “knowledgeable people call a raga such a kind of sound composition that is decorated with musical tones in a fixed, ascending, descending or moving meaning ( varna) and which colors the hearts of men” [op. by 10].

It should be noted that this definition, which has become a key one for the raga theory, characterizes all the main components of the raga as a system correlated with a high, learned tradition, grammatically justified (mention of the types of movement - varna) and putting the ethical and aesthetic criterion in the first place race. Further development The theory and practice of raga obviously went in two interdependent directions - "in depth" and "in breadth". On the one hand, in the raga as a compositional unit, the principles of unfolding the musical fabric and structural aspects were developed and improved, and on the other hand, the system expanded extensively, following the path of increasing the range of raga models included in the orbit of theory and practice. The treatises of later times give examples of a system more and more rich in quantity and, it must be supposed, in quality.

So, for example, in "Sangitamakaranda" by Narada (7th-9th centuries), two classifications of ragas are already presented, and their number increases to 32 in the first and 42 in the second. In the same treatise, for the first time, a distinction appears between ragas and ragini, that is, ragas "male", "female" and even "neutral" (neuter), in other works often combined into categories putra And putri(sons, daughters, daughters-in-law, etc.). The criteria that Narada laid down as the basis for such a classification are not without interest. The treatise, in particular, says that male ragas are most suitable for expressing race heroism, inspiration, etc.

Incarnation race love, humor, sadness, representing rather the "feminine" qualities of expression, participate ragini; neutral ragas embody feelings of horror, disgust, peace. So the type race becomes the leading criterion for the systematization and classification of raga models in Narada's treatise.

In the XIII-XIV centuries. the process of disengagement to the northern ( Hindustani) and southern ( karnataka) branches determined the further historical fate of the concept of raga. Since that time, each of these two regional traditions began to develop and interpret raga principles in its own way.

It is assumed that the reasons for such a division of the hitherto united musical culture of Hindustan were both the constant desire of the south of the subcontinent for cultural and spiritual autonomy, and the powerful waves of influence on the northwestern regions of Hindustan of cultural elements flowing here from the Arab-Iranian world, Central and Asia Minor and forming here a new one, Hindu Muslim the nature of the culture. Beginning around the thirteenth century. musical culture Hindustani more and more actively assumes the role of a kind of innovative cultural system, adapting heterogeneous external influences and processing them into a new cultural quality.

The Karnati musical tradition, despite the fact that it was also subjected to various cultural influences and was by no means conserved in this sense, now fulfills a protective mission, continuing to develop and cultivate elements of musical thinking that have not experienced such constant foreign cultural pressure to this day. Speaking of raga grammar itself, one should once again return to the question of the deep ethical and cosmological awareness of sound and music developed by the civilization of India.

Theory race, revealing the deep meanings of the art of sound presentation as a whole, is important not only for its generalized perception. It extends to all levels of this harmonious "building", filling with its content and subordinating to it various musical traditions, genres and forms, compositional types, structural elements and, finally, penetrating into the very foundation of rag thinking - musical tones. swara and microtones shruti. From this point of view, the duality that has always underlay the interpretation of various grammatical elements of the Indian language becomes clear. classical music. None of them can be interpreted only as purely theoretical, scholastic.

Moreover, the traditional treatise knowledge in the formulation of certain components of the raga always prefers those in which the deep ethical-philosophical principle is strengthened. Thus, in particular, Indian musical theory interprets swara in two aspects: as a mental quality of tone and as a scale level proper. Each of the seven major swarm ragic scale: shadja, rishabha, gandhara, madhyama, panchama, dhaivata And nishada, or briefly ri, sa, ha, ma, pa, dha, neither, sa, - is the carrier of one or another psycho-emotional code. From this position swara denoted as "raktadhvani" (dhvani - sound, rakta - colored, sweet, full of feeling, passion). Matanga in Brihaddeshi refers to swara as the sound that generates emotion, a definition that, like his raga, has become traditional.

And the etymology of the word swara"(sva - "itself", rajr - "shine, shine") - "what is significant in itself", or "sound-gem", emphasizes the primary importance of the ethical and aesthetic content this concept. According to the theory, the first two steps of the scale are shadja And rishabha designed to excite race heroism, surprise and indignation; dhaivata- horror and disgust gandharva And nishada- sadness madhyama And panchama- humor and love.

The choice of one or another swara as the dominant stage of the raga ( wadi swara) determines the character race of the raga as a whole. The smallest of the audible intervals that make up the sound fabric of the raga, shruti(from śru - "to hear"), i.e. "audible", in Indian classical musical grammar is also the bearer of the finest gradations race. Each of the 22 shruti, traditionally concluded by Indian music theory within the limits of the scale, has a “name”, which is a kind of poetic epithet that subtly characterizes the figurative and emotional connotation of this minimal sound unit: sharp, lily, slow, measured, mournful, charming, etc.

Criterion race served, obviously, also as the basis for the classification shruti into five groups: shruti burning, broad, neutral, tender and plaintive. Thus, and shruti, And swara associated with traditional Indian musical science with elements of the Universe, which, as can be assumed, was due to the successive connection of the concept of raga with the most ancient layers of the sound culture of the subcontinent. Undoubtedly, historically the concept of raga did not remain a once and for all frozen monolith, on the contrary, in the historical continuum of Indian civilization, it is constantly changing in accordance with the spirit and character of the era.

In this sense, it would be incorrect to represent it as a kind of museum exposition or an archaic "ancient" theory. But the originality and uniqueness of the Indian classical musical culture lies precisely in the fact that, unlike the European one, from one era to another, it strongly “mutated” in its conceptual framework, has retained for more than two millennia adherence to the original meanings that form the basis of ragic thinking.

Centuries have passed, and the raga still remains not losing its actual cultural meaning concept. The universality of the rag model of thinking and its organic nature for Indian culture is confirmed, first of all, by the “spillage” of the rag principle of thinking in all niches of the musical culture of the South Asian subcontinent. The filling of Indian classical musical culture with rag music is so obvious that in vast India - perhaps the only one of all Asian cultures– there is still relatively little demand for the European type of thinking and European music in general.

In our opinion, this testifies not to the “backwardness” of Indian musical culture, but, on the contrary, to its enormous and still not fully exhausted artistic and humanitarian potential, which today can satisfy the spiritual and cultural needs of not only Indians, but millions of people. people all over the world.

Bibliography

1. Bongard-Levin G.M., Ilyin G.F. India in antiquity. - M., 1985.

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European music takes the listener through a variety of moods, often contrasting, dramatic saturated, thanks to which the listener experiences strong feelings. The uniqueness and difference of the Indian raga lies in the concentration on a given topic, which ideally leads all participants in the action to an extraordinary result, up to a state of altered consciousness, catharsis.

According to research, healing properties Indian ragas can positively influence neurological, psychological and physical processes.

An acute headache is one of the most unpleasant sensations that can be experienced during the working day. And if there is no aspirin at hand, then there is a feeling that everything is lost. You will find that Kalyani's instrumental raga can be surprisingly soothing, and perhaps even pain-relieving!

Studies show that this raga, played softly at a low octave for 30-40 minutes, can relieve headaches and even raise low blood pressure. Likewise, some Indian classical ragas, played at a faster pace, may be gradually slowed down to have a lowering effect on high blood pressure.

As we already know, music can calm or excite. Whether it's working, exercising, studying, driving, or meditating, listening to certain types of music can have a wonderfully relaxing effect on your mind and body. Often said that music has the power to heal the body and mind, studies of Indian classical music have also shown ragas to be linked to actual neurological, psychological and physical healing processes.

For example, the influence of 72 ragas from Melakart (from which all other ragas develop) in the Carnatic system of music is known to affect 72 nerve centers, although there is no significant evidence for this.

The classical Hindustani repertoire uses six primordial ragas are Bhairav, Hindall, Deepak, Shri, Meg and Malkaus, from whom all other ragas originate. Listening to Hindol can help with arthritis, Sri is able to reduce stress and calm, and Malkaus can cope with fever and some stomach ailments.

Several classical performers of Carnatic and Hindustani music have experimented with the healing effects of music. It was noted that Kala Ramnath, a Hindustani violinist, regularly interacts with children in the United States suffering from cancer, plays for them, and also sends them recordings of his works. Educators have confirmed that listening to them reduces pain after chemotherapy and induces sleep in children.

The Hitam Trust organization, established a few years ago by a renowned vocalist in Carnatic music Bombay Jayashri, has documented the impact of music on children with autism. Its researchers have proven that the extraordinary effect manifests itself within certain period time. Children also reportedly benefit from focusing on music. Jayashri says: "Everyone special child, with whom I spoke, perceives music as an end in itself, which is already unusual.

Other famous performer Music Carnatic Professor TS Satyawati personally experimented with the therapeutic powers of the ragas and found that some of them helped listeners with headaches and regulated blood pressure. According to her experiments, Sama, Shankharabaranam, Asaveri and Nelambari ragas can help reduce high blood pressure. However, she claims that her experiments are not clinically proven. The professor also warns against using music therapy in isolation from medicine: regardless of any healing effects, first of all, a doctor's consultation is necessary.

Dr. Kirtana Kunikullaya, another well-known Carnatic music performer, says: “There are thousands of articles on the Internet that talk about the therapeutic power of music. When you study the effect of music on the human body and mind, there are several factors to consider. For example, notes, tonality, tempo, time, and also different tastes - what is applied to one child may not be perceived by another and, therefore, has a different healing effect.

HEALING RAGS

Hindol An ancient raga associated with the spring season, although the hindol is performed in the North Indian musical tradition

Sri Associated with the god Shiva, Sri is performed in the Hindustani tradition of classical music.

Malkaus Malkaus, which must be performed late at night, is one of the oldest in the Indian classical repertoire.



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