Chants Of India by Ravi Shankar

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Editorial Review
Mantram is Ravi Shankar's effort to set Sanskrit chants from ancient Hindu scriptures to music, and the result is a captivating mix of chant and music. Produced by George Harrison, this collection of mantras and prayers from the Vedas, Upanishads, and other scriptures powerfully transports the listener to a place of peace where it's possible to be one with the universe. It's as if a heavy, enveloping cloak of serenity falls from the dark, floating sounds of cello opening the CD. Shankar employs flute, tamboura, harp, and other instruments to accent the mighty "Om" thread that weaves itself through the cloth of this album, bringing together deep, ominous voices with delicate, earthly instruments. One looking for extensive Shankar sitar might be disappointed, but the beauty of this artist's creativity and spiritual vision sweeps one away into a larger, more meaningful listening experience. Highly recommended. --Karen Karleski

Track Listings
1. Vandanaa Trayee
2. Omkaaraaya Namaha
3. Vedic Chanting (One)
4. Asato Maa
5. Sahanaa Vavatu
6. Poornamadah
7. Gaayatri
8. Mahaa Mrityunjaya (Om Triambakam)
9. Veenaa-Murali (Music Interlude)
10. Geetaa (Karmanye Vadhikaraste)
11. Mangalam (Tala Mantra)
12. Hari Om (Music Interlude)
13. Svara Mantra
14. Vedic Chanting (Two)
15. Prabhujee
16. Sarve Shaam

Review on Amazon.com by Ashwini Aragam
This collection of chants from ancient Indian scriptures is simply the best you can get of such a collection. It starts, as in traditional Indian music, with a chant for Lord Ganesh. The collection is quite varied from chantings of a specific God such as the goddess of Learning (Saraswathi); chantings from the Gita (the famous Karmanyeva adhikareste, which states that one should refrain from acting with expectations about results) and the vedas - there is the other famous Gayathri mantra. The chants are authentic in their rendering in terms of the utterences and adherence to tradition.

For the westerner, all the chants may make no sense at all. But the quality of the vocals tends to give one a feeling of sacredness and sanctity. Some of the chants are melodious; Ravi Shankar's sitar is quite evident in most of these; but it doesn't dominate as with his other renderings. The chants are the main body.

This CD is ideal if your roots are Indian, and you want your child to listen and learn from these. It is nice background music for a religious gathering or for a Yoga class. I use this for many of my Yoga classes. It is not infrequent, that some of my students request this particular CD be the background music for their Yoga class.