Fire fighting

Mark Anderson led our September kirtan with the expertise born of a lifetime's chanting. His rich, deep voice varied in moods and expression, as he sang a variety of mantras and sacred songs, and we followed merrily on.

We were surprised to learn that Mark is a trainee firefighter, with a love of adventure and a desire to help others. Keshava remarked, in introducing him, that this is entirely befitting a kirtan leader: There is a 16thC Sanskrit poem which describes kirtan as "extinguishing the blazing fire of human suffering". So a fire-fighter in more than one sense!

Mark (aka Madhva) spoke of his involvement with kirtan. Although he grew up with it, he performs it now just because it is such a wonderful thing to do.

"Every Friday night I get together with a large group of friends, and we spend several hours chanting. Of all the things you could do on a Friday night, if I were to say I was going to spend it singing prayers and mantras, you might think there were more exciting things to do than that. Yet Friday night is the highlight of my week. "

He brings such concentration and enthusiasm to his chanting, that you can see how he gets so much out of it!

Although we'd been expecting Mark to bring his whole kirtan band, only one other member was able to come this time, but they left with promises of returning with more.

Many thanks to Mark on behalf of us all - looking forward to next time.

Exuberant Kirtan

Kirtan comes in many shapes and sizes, from the slow and meditative, through to the rip-roaring, drum-pounding, dance-til-you drop. There's a kirtan for every occasion! And it doesn't in the least matter how you chant - the effect is always the same - an unburdening of the heart and mind and a lasting upsurge of bouyancy. The ancient texts concerning kirtan state that there are no hard and fast rules for chanting - chant wherever, whenever and however you like. But chant!

As we've been following Gaura vani in recent months, on his mantralogy tour, here's a sample of the more exuberant style of kirtan, recorded in the UK in August. Click here.

Above: Traditional kirtan in India.

Kirtan in the Boston Globe

I just saw an article today about Gaura Vani from the Boston Globe. I love this quote from it:

"Kirtan is just the process of using chant and music to clean the heart," he said from his home outside the nation's capital. "It's like an ancient can of Scrubbing Bubbles to clean our hearts and help figure out who we are beyond the body."

We start our kirtan season again in Oxford on Sunday. What a great opportunity to let the Scrubbing Bubbles of chanting to set us off into new fresh autumnal adventures. Hope to see you there, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed...



All information you need about the next kirtan is in the post below.

September Kirtan

Welcome to a new season of Kirtan in Oxford! To start with panache, we'll be hosting a newly-formed kirtan band from London, headed up by Mark Anderson. He and his band Sacred Vibes have been chanting at the Kirtan-yoga sessions in West Hampstead, a new kirtan venue which has it's website here. Mark and his team have many years chanting experience between them, and bring a youthful energy and zest to their kirtans.

There's no doubt that kirtan is 'catching on', as more people experience it's uplifting, de-stressing, joyful qualities. So, if you haven't tried it yet, I hope you'll be able to join us this Sunday, September 20th. at the Friends Meeting House, 43, St. Giles, at 4.00 p.m. We look forward to seeing you and chanting with you!

Aesthetic Kirtan Chanters

I could not help post these wonderful photos of Gaura Vani & As Kindered Spirits and the Mayapuris. Enjoy!

Kirtan the Jewish way - with Kirtan Rabbi

This is a short video on Kirtan Rabbi, who blends Jewish chanting with Indian kirtan. It's a sublime combination. I hope you'll enjoy it.



Here's the home of the video: http://www.kirtanrabbi.com/

July Kirtan.

After an unfortunate postponement (for the first time in three years) we held our July kirtan last Sunday.

We weren't as big a gathering as usual, but our MC - Shaunaka - encouraged us to chant loudly and with enthusiasm in the spirit of "let me think not what the kirtan can do for me, but what I can do for the kirtan" - the result was terrific!

Gopal led us in chanting Govinda Jaya Jaya - an ancient mantra from the Radha-Raman temple in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh. Rembert - who is just completing his DPhil in Sanskrit - led us in chanting the maha-mantra (Hare Krishna mantra) and Gopal finished off with the Pancha-Tattva mantra.

We have managed to buy some new recording equipment, and are in the process of editing the whole backlog of kirtan recordings, with a view to podcasting them very soon. Good news!

Jahnavi and the Mantralogy Tour '09

If you're wondering where our beautiful kirtan chanter Jahnavi (with the violin) is right now, she is on the Mantralogy Tour '09 with Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits and The Mayapuris. They travel around the US and Canada chanting (and dancing) at yoga centres and festivals. Judging from the photos, she's having a good time...

(With Shiva Rea at the Kripalu Yoga Centre)

Looking forward to having her and her sister with us in Oxford in the autumn (hopefully).

Next kirtan 26th July!

We've moved the next kirtan to the 26th July (from the 19th) as all our chanters fell sick, and hope this will not inconvenience you too much. Come and chant with us before the summer's break, come and chant - to have a break...

Love this picture of the rain so had to add some lyrics below to justify its insertion. It's also quite topical.


"Raindrops keep fallin' on my head
And just like the guy whose feet are too big for his bed
Nothin' seems to fit
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin'

So I just did me some talkin' to the sun
And I said I didn't like the way he got things done
Sleepin' on the job
Those raindrops are fallin' on my head, they keep fallin' [...]"

Ratha-yatra Slideshow.

Some beautiful photos of Tulasi - kirtaniya extraordinaire - at Sunday's Ratha-yatra festival in London. Her father Kripamoya is also leading the chanting in one of the photos. Both of them have been kind supporters of our Oxford Kirtans, and hopefully will continue to be.

The photos capture something of the wonderful event which is the Ratha-yatra festival. If you follow one of the kirtan groups and just absorb yourself in the chanting, you'll feel you never lived before!

Click here for the slideshow: London Rathayatra.

London Ratha-yatra Kirtan Fun...

Today is the day of the London Ratha-yatra - thousands gather together and join in kirtan while Sri Jagannatha is pulled through the streets in his 'chariot'.

I know there are several Oxford kirtaniyas there today, and maybe you are too... but if, like me you couldn't make it, here's a video I found of last years festival: ISKCON devotees in their bright robes of saffron, making a joyful sound, - and showing that you don't have to be musical, or even sing in tune to be able to take part in kirtan!

Kirtan Alert!

Great opportunity for kirtan, this weekend, at the London Ratha Yatra. This is the London version of the thousands-of-years-old annual festival in Jagannatha Puri, Orissa - (from which comes our English word juggernaut).

Essentially it's a street festival, pulling the great Jagannath chariot through the streets of London, accompanied by joyful kirtan. Drums, cymbals, dancing, chanting - and a vegetarian feast at the end. If you love kirtan, this could be the thing for you, this Sunday. Organised by ISKCON, this is London's 41st Ratha Yatra, and there'll be several kirtaniyas from Oxford there - so some familiar faces to latch on to!

There's more kirtan on the stage at Trafalgar Square, after the procession.

Details:

41st London Rathayatra is on Sunday 28th June 2009
Assemble at Hyde Park, South Carriage Drive 11.30am
Procession departs 12 noon
Arrives at Trafalgar Square 2.30pm
Festival in Square until 5.00pm

Ten Million Moons

Click on Picture!

We posted about Gaura Vani - the young American kirtaniya - in January, when he organised the great Kirtan-Fest, Chant4Change in honour of the new President's inauguration. Now, he has released a new CD of kirtan and Indian sacred songs - Ten Million Moons. We were lucky enough to be sent a copy for review and have solicited a couple of responses from two young musicians, which you can read below.

For myself, the CD was full of surprises. I was astonished at the energy and passion which comes through in each track and the variety of moods and styles throughout. By the middle of the second song I was in tears at the moving rendition of a Sanskrit poem, describing the power and beauty of kirtan.

Gaura-Vani and his band As Kindred Spirits, are all young and energetic and maybe this CD will particularly appeal to people of their own generation. But even as a middle-aged listener, I find it engaging and heart-stirring. If you'd like to buy a copy, you can do so here: Ten Million Moons. And read the two reviews below.

Ten Million Moons - Review No 1.

by Chris Diamond - student of Hindi and Music, at SOAS. (Plays tabla and sitar).

At ease in the village temples of India and the chic yoga studios of London or New York, Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits, in their new album Ten Million Moons, prove that kirtan comes in all shapes and sizes. The trendy, upbeat, and smooth world music style is equally matched with featurettes of every major musical style of India that has influenced modern kirtans.

To classic Vaishnava tunes, Gaura Vani and his team add a cool, vibrant, jazzy edge. The polished corners of traditional, spontaneous kirtans, might make this a best-selling album amongst the many Americans and Europeans who frequent yoga studios and meditation groups.

This album contrasts with the last album from As Kindred Spirits, Nectar of Devotion. Whereas the last album had a fairly uniform feel and style, the new album, Ten Million Moons, has almost as many styles as moons. We skip from yoga chic with tracks such as the very soothing Moods of Kirtan (Siksastakam) to the bouncing-off-the-walls ecstatic Pirate Song (Dina Dayal).

Gaura Vani & co take some leaps of faith as they explore the uncharted territory of bhajan fusion. We hear a Gospel version of the Bengali classic Jiva Jago; an American folksy tune inspired by the ancient philosophy of India more akin to Bob Dylan, and a Sufi Persian poem of Amir Khusrau. For the purists out there, traditional Indian Bhajans in Hindi (Meera’s Song) and Bengali (Worship the Golden Lord) can also be found.

Overall this album stretches the imagination of both hardcore kirtaniyas and World music buffs. I don’t envy the record shop owners who have to find the right label to put this album under on the shelves!