Manu in Maytime.

Young Manu Magnin from Belgium and his merry band of kirtaniyas will visit us this Sunday, to lead us in kirtan. Manu is the founder and organiser of the Radhadesh Mellows annual weekend of kirtan at the Chateau de Petit Somme, in Belgian and a 'deep lover of kirtan'. You can see his website here, with recordings of some of the kirtans from this January, at which both Gopal Hari and Chakrini, who have recently sung here, performed.

I like Manu's description of Kirtan there:

What is Kirtan?

Kirtan is an experience like no other. It combines sacred mantra, or spiritual words with vibrant, joyous music that lifts the soul and energizes the body. Its beauty lies in its simplicity. One leader sings the mantra, accompanied by a few instruments. After each line, the group – however large or small, respond with the same line. This call and response continues as the kirtan slowly unfolds.

Though the kirtan tradition originated in ancient India, it is no less relevant to our modern times. With the increasing demands of the average working life, kirtan is perhaps even more beneficial than ever.

In kirtan, there are no rules – you can sit or stand, or better yet, dance! You can clap or play instruments, and sing to your heart’s content. The only thing necessary is an open heart, open mind, and open ears.

--^--

Join us and sample it for yourself!

March Kirtan (Catching Up!)

Jahnavi Harrison and her father Kripamoya kindly came to lead our March kirtan. (You can see them sharing a joke above!). They had spent the previous day at a celebration of the anniversary of Sri Chaitanya the well-known promoter of kirtan, in medieval India. In fact, as Kripamoya explained, we can trace our present knowledge and practise of kirtan directly back to his influence. In between the very sweet and heartfelt kirtans, Jahnavi and Kripamoya talked of Chaitanya's writings and life which explained some of the deeper understanding of the art of kirtan; it's purpose and effects. It was interesting and pleasing to listen to, in fact as soon as it is edited, we'll post a podcast of it here.


And below is a YouTube clip of Jahnavi singing and playing violin at a kirtan in Australia, a few months ago. Her father quipped that her Jewish ancestry shows in her spirited violin improvisations!

All Day Kirtan in Birmingham - Coming Up!

It's a terrific experience to be in a kirtan with hundreds of other chanters, chanting and dancing (if you care to!) hour after hour. Our next opportunity for this is in Birmingham on Sunday 29th May (a bank holiday weekend). It's actually a 24 hour kirtan, but we are taking a party up by minibus for the day on Sunday. The event is sponsored, so there is no charge for that, and Indian vegetarian food will be served at various times through the day - also no charge. If you'd like to join us for the party, here are the details:

Depart Oxford - 9.30 am
Return Oxford - 7.00 p.m.

Venue: Sri Balaji Temple, Dudley Road East, Tividale, West Midlands, B69 3DU,

Cost: £15 per person approx. for minibus hire and petrol. It may turn out a little less.

If you'd like to join us, please let us know by 5th May, to make sure we can secure the minibus for the event. You are welcome, of course, to make your own way there, too.

For further enquiries, please phone Keshava: 01865 331716

The Ides of March...

Not quite the Ides of March, which is tomorrow, but led me to learn that March is named in honour or Mars - the god of war. It's amazing how many of the things we take for granted - the names of the days of the week and of the months, the letters of the alphabet, so many things are steeped in ancient history, and we've long forgotten the meanings of most of them.

Well, the god of war will surely be pacified by our next kirtan, this coming Sunday, 20th March and by great good fortune, Jahnavi, who has just returned from a four month tour of America and Australia, with Gaura Vani and As Kindred Spirits, will lead us in chanting.

Jahnavi is a writer, as well as musician, and has been writing a series of articles on Sacred Music for the dance and music magazine Pulse - which turns out to be the first 'talking' magazine!

Jahnavi will be accompanied by her father Kripamoya, also an excellent kirtaniya, who we hope will tell us something about the history of kirtan, and how it is we come to be sitting chanting in Oxford today.

We hope you can join us.

January Kirtan.

Chakrini, who came from London, to lead our January kirtan - a very focussed chanter with a beautiful voice, has recently been on tour in Canada and will also be appearing on the main stage at the Mind, Body, Spirit Festival in May. She mentioned to us that her main desire is to spread the message of kirtan in Europe and, to that end, has engagements in Spain, Italy and Bulgaria during the summer. We wish her very well in her endeavours and hope she will come to Oxford again soon. Many thanks Chakrini!

Chanting with Chakrini - January Kirtan.

Chakrini would have led our December kirtan, had the snow not come; she has kindly agreed to come this month instead. We look forward to welcoming her to our Oxford Kirtan Experience and hope you can join us to start off the year in good spirit, with rousing chants. Chakrini's website is here and I'd just like to mention that all our kirtaniyas perform without remuneration, out of love of chanting, so we are very indebted to them for that.

Happy New Year to you all!

December Kirtan Cancelled

Regretfully, due to bad weather conditions, we shall have to cancel tomorrow's kirtan. Some of our kirtaniyas are stranded in snow-bound villages, and Chakrini, who was to come from London, would be safer staying there in such treacherous weather.

So please keep warm and well and we can meet again when the weather is more clement!

Chakrini and the Christmas Kirtan

For our upcoming December kirtan, we're fortunate to be having the young kirtaniya, Chakrini, visit us and lead us in chanting. Chakrini, singer, songwriter and musician, has just released her new kirtan CD, Songs of the Soul. As her website (where you can also hear excerpts from the CD) describes: "A childhood and a lifetime spent immersed in sacred chants and music, has given Chakrini's devotional singing a depth that goes straight to the heart and the soul." We hope you can come and join us for and enchanting Christmas kirtan on 19th December.

November Kirtan

November's kirtan, led by Ranchor Prime, was unusual and interesting. Ranchor is an interesting person! As well as his work in the field of conservation, here and in India, Ranchor is an artist, a musician and a writer and publisher: this year he published his book on the ancient text Bhagavad-Gita. So this time, he spoke to us a little on the philosophy of Bhagavad Gita and led us in singing some of the Sanskrit verses from the text, something we've never done before at our kirtans, but which was inexplicably satisfying. Then we chanted some of our regular mantras, enjoying Ranchor's mellow singing and musicality and ended up with mulled apple juice and biscuits to completely satisfy the inner self.

We're grateful to Ranchor for so often taking the time to come to Oxford from London, on a Sunday, to give us the pleasure of his company and chanting. Thank you, Ranchor!

October Images

I'd just like to mention, before you see the photos, that we never put up a photo of anyone, unless we are quite sure they are happy with it. A newcomer was concerned last month, when she saw photos being taken, but you can rest assured, we'll not include anyone who hasn't specifically been asked. That's why we don't usually post photos of the assembly of chanters.
Gopal led us in kirtan, with sweet melodies and a variety of mantras, ending with a Govinda mantra. He explained that in Sanskrit, Govinda means one who enlivens and gives pleasure to the senses. I think we all found that to be true!

October fruits and flowers.

Photos by Pavel Tomanec.

September's Celestial Kirtan

O Autumn, laden with fruit, and stain’d
With the blood of the grape, pass not, but sit
Beneath my shady roof; there thou may’st rest,
And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe,
And all the daughters of the year shall dance!
Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers.
- William Blake

Our September kirtan, replete with autumn fruits and flowers, was sung with 'jolly voice'! Although there were several 'new' first-time chanters, everyone joined in with gusto and the result, as one chanter described it, was a 'celestial atmosphere'.

Our very newest chanter was little Ananya, whose mother brought her to her first kirtan. She was as good as gold the whole way through and charmed us with her smiles. Her mother, Swetha, covered the cost of the refreshments afterwards, in honour of the event. Thank you Ananya and Swetha!


Gaura, brought two friends from Cambridge, and the three of them took turns in leading the chants. Craig and his Croatian wife Dunja are planning to start kirtan programmes in Cambridge - and we hope to join them there sometime, to return the compliment.

Gaura hari sings Govinda jaya jaya...

Dunja, who has a lovely voice, singing the ancient chant 'om namo bhagavate vasudevaya'

We finished up with autumnal mulled apple juice, nut biscuits and coconut sweet balls.

We're very grateful to Gaura, Craig, Dunja and friends who travelled so far to bring us a wonderful experience of chanting. Thanks chaps!

Kirtan This Sunday

We have a young Irish kirtaniya to start us off into a new season of Kirtan Experience. Gaura Hari lives with his Russian wife near London and has many years of kirtan experience under his belt, having toured extensively in Poland, Australia and India with various chanting parties. I've known Gaura since he was six, but haven't seen him for years, so am curious to see what all this chanting has done for him! Gaura is bringing some kirtaniya friends with him and we look forward to chanting with them all this Sunday, 19th September. Hope you can make it too!

In Nambour, Australia.

Gaura Hari absorbed in chanting bliss - Melbourne, Australia

We Say Goodbye to Meru...

Our June kirtan was tinged with sadness as we said farewell to the founder of the Kirtan Experience in Oxford - Meru Ostland - who left a few days later to return to Sweden, whence she came. As well as the inspiration behind the monthly kirtans, Meru was also a great singer and led many chants for us, with spirit and a strong voice. What's more she is a top class cook and her banquets, once tasted, are never forgot. Meru we miss you!

Nevertheless, we put a brave face on it and the June kirtan was very sweet, with Meru and Gopal taking turns to lead.

Gopal on harmonium.


Shaunaka on mridanga (clay drum).

Tea and biscuits at the end.

A Great Kirtaniya is Mourned.

Aindra das, loved the world around for his dedication to kirtan, passed away unexpectedly on Friday night, in the pilgrimage town of Vrindavana, India. Aindra had left his home country of America in 1986, I think, to dedicated the rest of his life to kirtan - the chanting of sacred mantras. He organised a team of fellow kirtaniyas to perform twenty-four hour kirtan every day, year after year, in the Krishna Balarama Temple, and although he stayed always in Vrindavana, became famous in all corners of the world, as the many visitors to the pilgrimage site got to know of and appreciate his wonderful chanting. He was an inspiration to many of the new, up-and-coming young kirtaniyas of today. Aindra will be very much missed. In his memory, kirtaniyas have been gathering to perform twenty-four and even fourty-eight hour kirtans in various parts of the world.

Here is a piece I found describing Aindra and his mission in more detail.