Selected Recording

"Teaching of Rgveda" (The Four Vedas; Folkways FE 4126, II:A:8).
Here two young brahmacarins (students) in the Nambudiri tradition of southern India learn to recite by imitation. The emphasis bhramans have traditionally placed on exact repetition relates to the importance of preserving the "sound" of the Vedas. One consequence is the early instruction of boys in precise performance. This would seem especially true of the Nambudiri tradition with its characteristic wide vibrato (for want of a better description).

Samhitā (Rgveda 1.74.1)
upaprayánto adhvarám mántram vocemagnáye | Approaching the sacrificial performance,
we wish to say a mantra for Agni,
aré asmé ca srnvaté || who listens to us from afar.

Vedic Chant Index Outline
 
27 January, 2010