Wednesday 25 July 2007

Flooded in Oxford

Last Sunday we yet again met for our monthly kirtan in Oxford, and you'd be pleased to know that the recording went well this time... You'll find them below in the highlighted links.


Ranchor Prime came all the way from London to lead us into chanting and he created such a wonderfully spiritual and relaxed atmosphere. He brought with him his Tambura (which you can see on the photo) that he bought in the 70's in Kolkata, and which he reckons must be the largest in England. It indeed had a wonderful sound. Here are our recordings:

Introduction


Chant 1:
jaya radhe, jaya radhe radhe, jaya radhe jaya shri radhe, jaya krishna, jaya krishna krishna, jaya krishna jaya shri krishna.

Chant 2:
jaya radhe, jaya krishna, jaya vrindavan shri govinda, gopinatha, madan mohan

Talk

Chant 3:
krishna krishna krishna krishna, krishna krishna krishna he
krishna krishna krishna krishna, krishna krishna krishna he krishna krishna krishna krishna, krishna krishna raksha mam krishna krishna krishna krishna, krishna krishna pahi mam rama raghava rama raghava, rama raghava raksha mam krishna keshava krishna keshava, krishna keshava pahi mam

Chant 4:
hare krishna hare krishna

krishna krishna hare hare
hare rama hare rama
rama rama hare hare


As Oxford got flooded by the rising waters of the Thames, we left the kirtan flooded by the chanting (but with dry feet). I hope you'll enjoy the kirtans as much as we enjoyed them on Sunday. [The photo below is the grass meadow on the side of Magdalen Bridge, looking rather more like a lake than anything else]




Monday 16 July 2007

Next kirtan

The next kirtan will be on Sunday (22 July) and promises to be a great experience.

Rachor Prime from London has kindly accepted our invitation to come and lead the kirtans this month. He has a deep commitment to chanting, which he has practised for over 35 years, and he has a great voice. So come along and chant!

Ranchor Prime: Director of Friends of Vrindavan, an environmental charity dedicated to supporting sustainable living in the sacred forests of Krishna in India. He helped to establish the Alliance of Religions and Conservation, and is the author of several books including Hinduism and Ecology, The Illustrated Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana, A Journey.


Sorry!

We somehow or other don't have the kirtan session from last time. We had the equipment et al but nothing got recorded. Sorry about that. We'll be more careful next time.

We squeezed into the library for the sake of variety (and for practical concerns), which some found great, but others too cosy (warm) for comfort. We had a great time though.

Here is at least a photo from the event, featuring Gopal playing the harmonium and Kiyo in the background.