Spiritual Aspects of Indian Music

There is in India a vast reservoir called “devotional music” which serves to convey traditional values; it pervades every part of the society. Devotional songs form the quintessential element in traditional congregational worship. Rituals consists entirely of songs in which both tonal and rhythmic musical instruments paly an important accompanying role. Religious rituals, comprised of symbolic acts, music and dance, are joyous celebration in which the personalized deity is lovingly feted and entertained. This book The Spiritual Aspects of Indian Music in concerned with the study of bhakti religious music and ritual called bhajana as a key component of South Indian society. It is also concerned with identifying those elements that distinctively charecterize the music and its role within the musical and religious traditions. A further and no less important consideration is the synthesization and codification of the liturgy and music of bhakti congregational worship. The book is an outcome of the indefatigable research of Dr. Simon, whichi s a richly illustrated impressive work and which projects an indepth, authentic account of the spiritual aspects of the bhakti ritual music of India. The work is the result of thirteen months of field work in Tamilnadu, India between October 1971 and November 1972. the book is of great value to the students of Indian Music, who cannot afford to miss this volume.