The culture of Bharat (India) is extremely diverse and phenomenally integrated. It is a fascinating revelation for people who are unaware of this deeply-rooted culture in depth. The etymology of Bharat in Sanskrit is ‘Bha’ – the light of knowledge, and ‘Rata’ – revelling. So, Bharat means “constantly revelling in knowledge”. The distinctive cultural heritage of a country gives it the identity of a nation.
In all the knowledge traditions of our nation, the teaching-learning process is verbal. In the most revered way, it is called ‘Guru Mukhi Vidya’, where the knowledge is received directly from the mouth of the Guru, not merely from textbooks. This ancient tradition is extremely widespread in one of the innumerable cultural traditions of Bharat – The Classical Music Tradition – Shastriya Sangeet Parampara. It is as profound today as it was thousands of years ago, constantly infusing faith in the mind and heart of all seekers of music, inspiring them to choose classical music as their way of life.