Album Notes

Bhajan means musical worship. It is also known in various parts of India as Keertan Sankeertan and Namavaali. India has an enormous variety of devotional songs. Indeed most of the classical compositions have as their literary content, devotional themes. It is in such songs of piety and wisdom that some of the most beautiful music of India lives.

This CD has a rare collection of Bhajans (Hindu devotional songs) written by the famous poetess Meerabai and Shri Chaandan Ram Charan of Patiala who was also the musical guru of Meena's legendary father Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish.

Meerabai was a Rajput Princess turned wandering minstrel that became a staunch Krishna devotee (Bhagat). Her love of Krishna became a life long quest. She is believed to have written over 5000 compositions as she traveled to almost every Krishna temple settling for a while in Vrindaban, the holy city of Krishna's birth. She latter moved to Dwarka in Gujarat.

Shri Chandan Ram Charan was a devout worshiper of Krishna. He was a very highly respected composer with a reputation of teaching that brought some of the most acclaimed musicians to his doorstep to learn his compositions. Meena learnt a few of these songs from her father Pt. S.D. Batish and presents them here.

Singing and listening to Bhajans can have a profound effect on you. It can reduce stress and anxiety. By closing one's eyes and meditating on the words and the music one can achieve a sense of calm and a feeling of being centered.

Meena Batish is a very gifted singer and she gets this from her father Pandit Shiv Dayal Batish a legendary singer, composer and music director. Her love of music is natural. Since a very young age, she could easily render very difficult songs and taans (fast melodic phrases) while trying to imitate her father and the various singers she heard. Her gift didn't go unnoticed. Her father took keen interest in her abilities and would have her participate in various functions organized by the Batish family. It was not long before she started getting frequent requests to sing at many get togethers and functions in India and abroad. Meena's musical education began at a very young age with Kathak dance. She then went on to study bhajan, ghazal, and geet with her father. She is also very fond of singing filmi songs.

Accompanying Meena on various instruments such as sitar, tabla, harmonium, violin, dilruba, bells, khartal are her father and her brother Shri Ashwin Batish.