The Ancient Healing Roots of Indian Music
Introduction
Music Therapy is an emerging discipline in India that warrants more research in this area to make it evidence based. The existence of Music Therapy as a belief system and the integrated approach in treatment of diseases advocated by Medical Professionals in the clinical arena has made them turn favourably towards Music as a promising therapy. The potentials of the ancient healing roots of Indian Music like nadayoga, Vedic Chanting and Ragachikitcha have been recognized by various medical professionals, psychologists and musicologists and music therapists, making them engage in more and more of experimental studies which might strengthen and vouch for the efficacy of Indian Music and to make music therapy an evidence based practice.
Music Therapy is still developing in India, with many individuals practising music therapy, some of them even medical professionals. Some are engaged in research and a few premium medical institutions have introduced music therapy to patients as a complementary therapy. It exists as a very strong belief system and serious efforts are being taken to rediscover the ancient healing traditions on scientific basis by musicologists, psychologists and medical professionals.
Apart from mandatory Musical Training, Musicologists, Psychologists and Medical Professionals are selected to take up training as music therapists in few training institutions. Presently there are no universities offering music therapy courses, however a few universities have proposals to introduce them.
The Nada Centre for Music Therapy is a small non profit organization that strives to propagate music therapy, engage in research and documentation of ancient healing traditions of music therapy and also initiating shortly to offer training and certifying for practising music therapists. The center has also published books on Music Therapy by Dr. T V Sairam, Hon. Technical Advisor and has also released CDs researched by him on foundational aspects of music therapy.
As a part of its first Anniversary activities, the Centre convened a National Conference in Chennai, the first of its kind in India, with a view to disseminate the feelings, knowledge, experience and belief on the prophylactic and therapeutic application of music in general and in Indian Music in particular by Renowned authors, Musicians, Psychologists, Medical Professionals and Researching and Practising Music Therapists.The proceedings of the conference will be published shortly by the center.
This article is an attempt to give an introduction on the ancient healing roots of Music in Indian Tradition and culture so as to provide a context for Music Therapy in this country.
The author's present research is on cancer related pain and its functional symptoms using a rigid methodology. It is based on an ethnographic approach, reflecting the belief that music is first and foremost a context bound, social experience, shaped by values and traditions of culture and is an attempt to standardize a particular form of music within a specific socio economic group and their cultural background for therapeutic applications.
History of Indian Music
Indian Music possesses a special character of its own and it differs from music of other countries in its structure, temperament and method of improvisation and has the most striking feature of being a synthesis between Philosophy, Psychology, Spirituality and Aesthetics.
The precursor for the Indian Raga System originated in the Vedic period (Rig Vedic Period) which is believed to precede the pre historic Indus Valley Civilisation. The vedic hymns of the vedic period were meant for yajnas and were called Yajur Vedas and the hymns that was meant for singing were called samaveda. Music was evolved out of stanzas of Rig Veda set to tunes and tones in the form of samaganas, cultured with a religious motive and a spiritual purpose. Indian tradition had a great intuition about the power of sound and intonation and that the science of sound was very important for use in every condition of life in healing, in teaching, in evolving and accomplishment. The vedic chants and music were intoned with utmost care as each intonation and inflection of voice could have beneficial or adverse effects. The Vedas and Upanishads had more of sound and rhythm and were used as a source of healing and upliftment.
The tones used in the samagana were five, six and seven and were in downward movement and emphasized on the harmony between speech, tune and rhythm. These vedic songs were used by the people to please the presiding deities of different vedic sacrifices or Yajnas to get benedictions of brilliance, power, beneficence and wisdom. It is only from this samagana, that seven notes were evolved which formed the basis not only for the raga system of India, but also what is known as world music.
After the Vedic music, Gandharva or Marga music evolved, and then the formalized regional or Desi music which enriched the treasury of Indian classical music in the form of ragas and gitis. The present system of raga music is somewhat a different approach followed in more systematic and scientific manner by 72 melakarta scheme devised by Venkatamakhi with various permutations and combinations of swaras under mela karta and janya classifications in South Indian Music and 10 basic thatas or melas in North Indian Music contributing to the raga composition and raga development.
Nada according to Indian Philosophy is sound vibrations and Nada yoga, an ancient healing practice, views music as a universal force (and not just a resonance) and also considers that the entire universe is made of nada, the sound vibrations consisting of two forms ahata (Struck Sound) and anahata (Unstruck Sound). This system of using nada as a healing system has been an ancient Indian tradition but the practices are lost in time due to want of codification and proper preservations. This subject has been extensively revived recently by T. V. Sairam (see below).
Indian Ragas
The use of specific ragas for ailments has been in practice in ancient India as Raga Chikitcha, which is being revived today by various music therapy practitioners. Indian music has a special characteristic feature of improvisation and oral tradition and is independent of a written score. Also, the Raga System based Indian Music is more voice based. The vast repertoire of kirtans, kritis and bhajans with a devotional touch, the psychological value of the tonal configuration of different ragas and the voice when presented exclusively than casually in a concert atmosphere to the clients delivered by voice exudes a kind of naturalness and magnificence, which reaches the soul more effectively than the touch, glance or even movement.
Since the ancient times, Indian Music had a very clear differentiation in the different forms of music in use and had recognized the different aspects of music and the ways of expressing with the specific tone and rhythm to bring the desired equilibrium or desired emotions. The music of the peasants was different from that of the intellectuals. The music of the stage was different from that of the temple and the music for entertainment was different. This suits the therapeutic application of different kinds of music to cater to the preferences of the clients in the clinical settings.
Indian Music is predominantly melodic in nature and the unique raga system, born of the various combinations and permutations of notes with the existence of microtones and different embellishments, produce sweet and soft impressions in the minds of listeners. Indian Classical Music is much more than a mere sensate music, which only pleases the ear and ends there, but is idealistic and expresses mystic significance of life and bring divine thoughts. They gratify the soul of the listeners. The ragas create a consoling and transcending attitude of the mind, elevate the listener to an ethereal plane and purify the knots of the mind through devotion, the supreme sacrifice.
References
Rao, Suvarnalata (2000). Acoustical Perspective on Raga-Rasa Theory. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
Sairam, T. V. (2004). What is Music? Chennai: Nada Centre for Music Therapy.
Sairam, T.V. (2004). Medicinal Music. Chennai: Nada Centre for Music Therapy.
Sairam, T.V. (2004). Raga Therapy. Chennai: Nada Centre for Music Therapy.
Sambamurthy, P. (1998). South Indian Music - Vols I - VI, 12th edn. Madras: The Indian Music Publishing House.
Sharma, Manorama. (1996). Special Education: Music Therapy Theory and Practice. New Delhi: APH Publishing Corporation.
Wheeler, Barbara L. (Ed) (1995). Music Therapy Research Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives. Phoenixville: Barcelona Publishers.
How to cite this page
Sumathy, Sundar (2005). The Ancient Healing Roots of Indian Music. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 09, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=country/monthindia_march2005a
