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Tuesday 29 June 2021

Carnatic Music - Soul Healer - Part 3

Carnatic Music - Soul Healer - Part 3


        In continuation from the previous part of this post, Carnatic Music - Soul Healer - Part 2,
http://divinediyaas.blogspot.com/2019/09/carnatic-music-soul-healer-part-2.html
      
        Music is a language of emotion, it can represent different feelings and barge into the soul with no boundaries or limitations.

          There are seven swaras (Sa, Re, Ga, Ma, Pa, Dha, Ne) in carnatic music. Similarly, there are seven chakras in the human body and each chakra is corresponding to a respective swara and its frequency.... 

Check the below picture for reference.


Like ascending swaras from Sa to Ni, chakras will start from Muladhara Chakra (bottom) to Sahasrara Chakra (top).

Sa - corresponds to - Mulandhara Chakra
Re - corresponds to - Swadhistanam Chakra
Ga - corresponds to - Manipuraka Chakra
Ma - corresponds to - Anahata Chakra 
Pa - corresponds to -  Visuddhi Chakra 
Dha -corresponds to - Ajna Chakra
Ni -  corresponds to - Sahasrara Chakra

      Ragas help in activating these seven chakra. Certain ragas invokes specific emotions and induces specific senses in humans. 

               Every sound, for example: the words we speak, singing, laughing, shouting, crying has different vibration and frequency. The frequency relates to one's mind and brain activity. While singing, these swaras acts as auditary stimulus to the brain and activates nerve centers.

Arohanam (ascending scale of notes in raga) - matches with bottom to top chakras - Mulandhara chakra to Sahastrara chakra

Avarohanam (descending scale of notes in raga) - matches with the top - bottom - Sahastrara Chakra to Mulandhra Chakra

Seven swaras of the music is related to seven chakras i.e the flow of energy in the human body. 

Check the below picture for the seven chakras in human body, its frequency for respective chakras...



Carnatic Music In Water

      Jala tharangam / Jal Tarang - It is an Indian melodic percussion instrument. It consists of set of ceramic or metal bowls tuned with water. 
Jal - means Water and 
Tarang - means waves in water. 



           It is an ancient Indian wave instrument, which produces ragas and melodies. The cups that are tuned to the notes of raga by adjusting the amount of water in it. The musicality of this instrument is completely dependent on the quantity of the water in the cups and the size of the cups.  The pots are typically lined up with decreasing size from left to right. The bigger bowls generate notes of lower octaves, while the small bowls generate notes of high octaves. 

The sounds of seven swaras in carnatic music will be reproduced using these cups. Even, musical songs can be played using this Jala Tharangam. 

In advanced countries, Have you ever heard of fine music from water or from earthenware pot (Ghatam)?

Music has an affinity for water. The association between them was identified by scientists recently. Check out the below picture, where the scientists compared the Sri yantra with the sound of OM in water.

OM in pure water, forms ancient Sri yantra, i.e conversion of sound vibration into visual patterns....

        Sound frequencies create this radical symmetrically harmonic form with a small sample of vibrating water. This pattern appears frequently throughout the nature

         Crystal of water that are exposed to carnatic music looks like the picture below...


Let us see about visualisation of sounds, to understand better....

Cymatics - is the study of visualisation of sounds. It is a subset of modal vibration phenomenon. It analyses sounds by applying principles of wave mechanics. As sound is also a type of wave, it can be displayed visually. 

            In Cymatics, the modes of vibration of a membrane or a plate can be observed by sprinkling the vibrating surface with a fine dust (like, powder, flour or fine sand). The powder moves due to the vibration of the sound and forms pattern of lines or geometrical shapes depending upon of the frequency of the sound.



        For a pure sound of only one frequency, like a tuning fork or whistling, the wave looks smooth and regular, also called as sine waves. 

When there are different frequencies, the sand naturally gravitates to the area where the least amount of vibration occurs causing a fascinating geometric pattern. Different patterns emerge in the excitatory medium depending on the geometry of the plate and the driving frequency. 

           When the Pranava Mantra OM was chanted into the Cymatics apparatus, the divine Sri Yantra was formed in the sand on the vibrating plate. The power of OM sound and its frequency, can be realised by the Sri Yantra pattern that it makes on the sand.



        This was known to ancient sages and rishis in India and thats why they have given more importance to this divine mantra and called it as Pranav mantra 'OM'!!!

Now, coming back to the topic of carnatic music, carnatic music is a powerful sound, it connects with human body, mind, plants, animals and everything in this universe. As it is the music of devas, each raga was designed with very purpose. Every raga and notes has unique frequency that vibrates with the senses of human body, it can make plants to grow faster and healthier, it connects with the animals, it connects with the weather and even with an atom in this world.

        All these sounds, frequency, vibration, mantras, water had strongly attracted a great scientist 'Nikola tesla'. He read many sanskrit books, analysed about mantras and it's frequencies. He also mentioned in his book about some of the sanskrit terms that he used. Also, he is the one who completely, understood the concepts of frequency, vibration and energy in the universe. Even, a thought of a man is also having a certain frequency...



        In ancient Tamilakam, there was a great poet and saint called, 'Thirunavukuarasar' and popularly called as 'Appar'. He did many miracles to help people, he also miraculously opened the locked temple door by merely singing hymns of Lord shiva. He sang many hymns in praise of Lord Shiva and Some of Appar's hymns set to various Panns - the melodic modes of Ancient Tamil music. 


        Pann (
பண்) - is the melodic mode used by the tamil people in their music in ancient times. The ancient panns over centuries evolved first into pentatonic scales and then into seven note carnatic swaras later. Initially, tamil music is heptatonic (musical scale with 7 pitches per octave), called as Ezhisai. There are several reference for these panns in Sangam and pre- sangam literatures...

Saint Thirunavukuarasar's Magic: 

        Once Appar and saint Thirugnana Sambandar went to a temple called 'Thiru marai kadu' and shocked to see that devotees are entering into the temple through the side entrance of the temple and not the main door was locked. When questioned about this, they got to know that the main entrance of the temple was locked forever by veda people and since, they didn't return to this temple, its door was locked endlessly and couldn't open by normal people. 

Thus, both the great poets together sang hymns of Lord Shiva to please him to open the temple door. While, they were singing the hymns, the door of the temple started to break and the doors opened automatically. That's the power of hymns, the power of sound and music from the great poets.

        Once, Appar had also turned a snake bitten dead boy into alive by singing hymns to God, which made the snake to take its own poison from the boy's body. Every hymn he sang does not only has meaning, it has powerful sound and vibration. He was a powerful saint and great devotee of Lord Shiva.

Nowadays, music is also used for healing!

        Music provides a total brain workout. Researches shows that listening to music can reduce anxiety, blood pressure, and pain as well as improve sleep quality, mood, mental alertness and memory. Music also has the capacity to imitate emotions

        Music floods the brain with a chemical called dopamine. Dopamine is the chemical in the brain associated with pleasure, motivation and reward. Studies have shown that certain pieces of classical music will have the same effect on everyone. Music helps scientists understand complex functions of the brain and opens up treatments for patients who are recovering from strokes or suffering with Parkinson's. Research even suggests that music may alter the structure of the brain. 


        Numerous scientific and psychological studies have shown that music can lift our moods, combat depression, improve blood flow, lower levels of stress-related hormones such as cortisol, and ease pain. 

Studies have shown that music produces several positive effects on a human's body and brain. Music activates both the left and right brain at the same time, and the activation of both hemispheres can maximize learning and improve memory.




        During ancient times, sages and siddhars used to carry a 'Kamandalam' -  a copper pot in their hands with water in it. They utter powerful mantras / words and spill little water from the pot over the respective person or a thing, then their words will become true. That's the power of frequency of Mantras or sounds, which has affinity with water. 

        Sages in ancient India, knows the power of sound, frequency, vibration and energy in the world. That's why they gave importance to mantras, sounds, carnatic music and specific ragas, notes etc. In Indian ancient temples, there are many artistically carved musical pillars which produces the sounds of these seven swaras and even sounds of musical instruments such as Nadaswaram,  chenda, tabla.  Hearing to specific ragas in carnatic music, makes one to come out of depression, makes one to laugh, makes one to cry and even makes one to go unconscious. 

Music is a powerful tool that's having association with Humans, plants, trees, animals, nature, weather and with the Universe... Everything in this universe is made of Sound, Frequency, Energy and Vibration. In ancient India, music was not just entertainment, it was considered in terms of these scientific factors !!


- Aarthi Thiyagarajan

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