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About Tamil Marai: Tamil is one of the world’s ancient languages.Second to none in its classicism and literary splendor, this vibrant organic language is spoken by over 80 million people in different parts of the world. Tamil still continues to grow through the process of assimilation of ideas and the creation of new and unique words and phrases to describe the ever changing landscape o f modern civilization. Poets have enriched the literary landscape of Tamil over centuries. The liturgical Tamil works of the 1st millennium CE such as the Tevaaram are repositories of ancient musical traditions. Similarly the works of the Aalwaars in Tamil are part of worship traditions in temples in today. The verses of Arunagiri Naathar of the 15th century CE represent a poetic synthesis of Tamil and Sanskrit in poems rich in rhythmic intricacy ; they also bear copious references to the mythological wealth of the Indiansubcontinent. The verses of Raamalinga Adigalaar of the 19th century CE are a class in themselves.
The temple heritage of the Tamil speaking region of India represents a living tradition of arts that have survived with remarkable continuity over a 2000 year period. The Tamil hymns of the Nayanmar saints in praise of various temples across the region, were collated and catalogued by Nambiyaandaar Nambi of the 11th century CE and under the auspices of the king Raja Raja Cholan, an ancient musical tradition was preserved and propagated throughout the Tamil speaking region and its legacy flourishes even today in the form of the Tevaram hymns sung in temples.
This recording is a humble salutation to the language Tamil and to the ancient temple heritage of Tamilnadu. The temples represented in this recording include Srirangam, Swamimalai, Tiruchendur,Pazhamudirsolai,Tiruvenneinallur, and Tiruvaiyaaru. The music in this album has been recorded on various occasions over a period of several years. The three Tevaaram hymns in this collection have been rendered in their traditionalform. The other hymns are rendered in the contemporary idiom and have been very effective in reaching across to the younger generation of the Indian diaspora.
About Kanniks: Kanniks is a rare visionary musician, composer and writer with numerous productions and recordings to his credit. His masterpiece cross-cultural, multimedia larger than life presentation Shanti-A journey of Peace has thrilled audiences in various venues in the United States. Based in the United States, he is the recipient of several awards and grants including the prestigious Individual Artist Fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council. Kanniks has lectured extensively on Indian culture and has offered music workshops at several educational institutions, corporations and cultural organizations nationwide. Kanniks is a passionate educator and he teaches Indian Music at the College Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati. Kanniks is also the Director of the American School of Indian Art – founded with the vision of bringing the best of the west and the east to the Indian diaspora in the United States. Kanniks is also the author and publisher of Templenet (www.templenet.com) a widely respected and well known source of information on the temples of India on the internet.
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