Well does life get any better
more yesterday than today
How I thought the sun would shine tommorow
But it rained…

a friend of mine works with an organization that is attempting to alleviate the cycle of poverty in india by giving the very poorest children access to first-rate education.    parikrma humanity foundation currently educates 1,100 Indian children between the ages of 5 and 15 who are orphaned, have been abandoned, or are from households with incomes of less than $20 per month.  In addition to the very highest-quality education, the children receive three meals a day, medical care and clothing.   the education is in english, giving the children access to higher education and preparing them to compete for skilled employment.  special emphasis is made to provide access to parikrma’s educational opportunities to girls.

parikrma humanity foundation is a non-profit organization based in bangalore, india.   parikrma usa inc. is registered as a 501 (c) (3) tax exempt entity in the united states.

i’m hosting events in the galleries in support of the program.    there’ll be a silent auction of the kids’ artworks and shukla bose, founder of the organization will tell the story of the organization.  please join us!

NEW YORK: Tuesday 20 October, 6 pm

SAN FRANCISCO: Wednesday 28 October, 6 pm

for more information, or to make a donation, please visit:     http://www.parikrmafoundation.org/home.htm

Krsna performed many pastimes in the month of karttika, but his Rasa lila pastime is the topmost of all, because it shows how glorious the love of Srimati Radhika is.  In Bael Van, Laxmi devi eternally resides in Braja doing intense tapasya to achieve entrance into sri Krsna’s rasa lila.  If Laxmi devi herself is performing austerities just to attain entrance into the rasa dance, then we can imagine how high the service of radha and krsna is.  So in Bael Van we pray for the blessings of Laxmi devi to perform strong sadhana with no material attachments or desires and to obtain the divine service of sri sri Radha and Krsna in their Rasa lila.

The first day of Vraja Mandala parikrama started with the sound of Gurudeva singing Damodara Astakam in the early,   cool vrindavan morning, preparing the devotees for a month full of sweetness.  Everyone looked ready and excited to embark on the journey of the day; our first stop was kaliya daha.  This is the place where Sri Krsna enticed the Gopis for the first time by dancing on the hoods of Kaliya.  Part of the original tree that Krsna jumped from is still there, and under that same tree we sat and heard the intricacies of this pastime.

Next we visited Sri Madan Mohan temple where the new Madan Mohan deities reside.  In the middle of the temple room devotees  jumped up and down and all round to Rasananda Prabhu’s kirtan.  Meanwhile, a residential fat monkey rested on the temple ledge carefully examining the dance moves of the kirtan party.  He decided it would be fun to try and follow along, and so with each jump the monkey jumped.  He spinned and swirled and bobbled his head back and forth.  There is so much life in Vraja and in kirtan — even the monkeys can’t resist.

After Madan Mohan temple we went to the bhajan Kutir of Sri Sanatan Goswami and the Old Madan Mohan temple.  Just near to there is the place where 12 expansions of the sun god came to warm Krsna  after he danced on the hoods of Kaliya. He glistened and shined brilliantly like 12 suns. It had rained that morning and Vrindavan was left with beautiful green plants.  The hustle and bustle of the pushing Bengalis and sweating crowds was subdued by the incoming flood of beautiful impressions, lively kirtan,  the hearing of Krsna’s pastimes, and of course. . .

that cute monkey!

Vraja Mandala Dham Parikrama ki jai!

Jai Sri Radhe!

~Radhika Dasi

Vaisnavas sit beneath the sprawling kadamba tree at Kaliy-Daha.

The main Trunk of the kadamba tree.

Srila Sanatan Gosvami’s bhajan kutir by the old Madana Mohan temple and Dvadasa-tila.

Taking Karttika Vows at Yamuna with Srila Gurudeva in the Morning.

There was a king by name Shanta Brahmani who was ruling the city of Bedar. One day the king was sitting with his queen and they were eating fruits. The queen threw the peeled banana skin from the balcony. On seeing this, a beggar came and took the peeled skin and started having it. The queen noticed this and showed this to the king and asked him, how the beggar entered the palace with out the knowledge of the guards. The king got very angry and shouted at the guards and beat them. The guards then came to beggar and started hitting him. The beggar then began to laugh and the king wondered why he was laughing. He asked the guards to stop hitting him and asked the beggar why he was laughing. The beggar told him that he laughed at his own karma, and if he was punished for eating the banana peel, what would happen to the person who had the banana. He then said that if he was beaten up for entering the palace for a short while, what would happen to the person living in the palace. He finally told the king that this thought of your pain made me laugh. This changed the king’s mind and feeling repentant he left his kingdom and went to the forest in search of god.

The king was sitting in the forest and thinking that he does not how to worship and attain god. One day a group of pilgrims were on their way to Pandharpur, seeing them the king paid his respects to them and asked if he could join them. They blessed him and asked him to come along with them to Pandharpur. When he came to Pandhari he had a bath in Chandrabhaga, worshiped at Pundalik’s tomb, did a parikrama (walking around the sacred city of Pandhari through a path where a lot of saints have stayed; even today most of the pilgrims who go there do a Praikrama and the houses where these saints lived are still there as Mutts) and then came to Vitthal Rukmani temple. He then paid his respects to the god and asked him to give him a Sadguru as he does not know how to worship god. He then sat in the temple for 3 days with out food and water asking Vitthal to give him a Sadguru. On the third day Vitthal came in his dream gave him a book called Vivekasindhu and asked him to take initiation from Swami Sahajanand of Kalyan. As soon as he woke up he found the book but could not see Vitthal. Shanta Brahmani was astonished on seeing this miracle. He then started reading the book. One day he remembered that Vitthal had asked him to meet Swami Sahajanand and took leave from Vitthal to go to Kalyan to meet his Sadguru. Swami Sahajanand was not in Kalyan then; he waited for a few months and then came back to Pandhari. While he was at Pandhari, Swami Sahajanand also came on a pilgrimage to Pandhari and appeared before him. Shanta Brahmani then prostrated to him and told about his dream. Swami Sahajanand then initiated him and also gave him the name of Mrityunjaya.  He then listened to the teachings of his Sadguru and also understood the facts of the soul.

A Jangam (People who follow Shiva and have lingam with them) by name Bhavaraya came as a suppliant to Mrityunjaya and took initiation from him. There was another Jangam by name Samuchchaya, who was considered the guru of all Jangams. He abused Mrityunjaya and also Bhavaraya for this deed and also removed him from his community. Bhavaraya then went to Mrityunjaya and told him what happened. Mrityunjaya then asked him not to worry about that and continue his service to god as ever. There was king there by name Kashipathi who was a devoted Shiva bhaktha. He used to invite ten thousand Jangams every day, offer food to the god and then offer food to the Jangams. One day Samuchchaya was at Kashipathi’s palace for the feast with other Jangams. The feast was served and when the Jangams tried to unroll their cloth to remove their Lingams and offer food, they found the Lingams missing. They felt ashamed that some thing like this had happened and also wondered why god was doing this leela. Kashipathi said that he felt that one of the Jangams would have persecuted a saint and Lord Shiva would have become angry and left us. Then Samuchchaya confessed saying that it was because of him and told the incident that had happened earlier. The king then listening to it asked all the Jangams to go to Mrityunjaya and apologize for what had happened and ask him to help find their Lingams. All the Jangams then went to Mrityunjaya’s hermitage and told him what had happened and also apologized for Samuchchaya’s words on him and Bhavaraya.  Hearing this Mrityunjaya asked them to be seated and told them that he has two dogs by name Vedanta and Siddhanta, and they would have stolen your Lingams. He then called Vedanta and asked it to throw the Lingams belonging to them immediately. The dog then vomited 5000 Lingams and then called Siddhanta and it vomited another 5000 Lingams. The Jangams were amazed seeing this. How ever no one was able to recognize their respective Lingams and they asked Mrityunjaya to help them again. As soon as they said this, their respective Lingams went to them. The Jangams then thanked Mrityunjaya and left to the palace for the feast.

The BBC ran an article on the solar eclipse that happened yesterday here. Seems everybody was out gazing at it.

Here’s the link.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8161578.stm

Here in Vrindavan it was different. Such an event is considered inauspicious and auspicious at the same time. Certainly it is not recommended to stare at it.

The bad bit is that people here believe that it is so powerful  it can contaminate food and so no one cooks  during the time of the eclipse and for a period before and afterwards. Temples close for the duration as it  is thought the food offerings normally made would be  polluted. Restaurants close and if you eat at this time it is thought you will become ill.

The good side is that it is meant to be a very good time to practice religious ritual or perform devotional acts as their potency or benefit is magnified.  The whole town of Vrindavan took to the parikrama path, with husbands wives, children, sadhus, and just about everybody and their granny seemed to pass by the gate of my ashram, (which is on the parikrama path) all day long.

Rooftop view at 6am morning of eclipse

Govardhana Hill

I went on a carikrama ( that is parikrama by car and not on foot) to Govardhana last Monday. A parikrama is about 23 kilometres and takes about 5 to 6 hours to complete at a brisk pace. I preferred the travel-stop-and-linger mood the car enabled this time.

Govardhana Hill features most famously in the 10th book of the Bhagavata Purana where he (everything is personified in these stories) stars in the story of Krishna lifting him as an umbrella to protect the citizens of Vraja from torrential rain sent by an envious Indra.

The Bhagavat Purana writes:

Of all the devotees, this Govardhana Hill is the best! Of my friends, this hill supplies Krishna and Balaram, along with their calves,cows and cowherd friends, with all kinds of necessities-water for drinking,very soft grass,caves,fruits,flowers and vegetables.In this way the hill offers respects to thee Lord.Being touched by the lotus feet of Krishna and Balaram, Govardhana Hill appears very jubilant.‘ B.P 10.21.18

Theology aside, the recognition of the dependence we all have on nature with its bountiful and life sustaining offerings is appealing in todays climate of ecological catastrophe. The idea of reciprocal respect and co-existence reverberates throughout the Hindu scriptures and our Govardhan visit offered a refreshing alternative to more impersonal and exploitative considerations of the natural world.

Govardhan is about an hours drive fromVrindavan and before setting out on our walk we bathed in two beautiful lakes or kunds, Radha- Kund and Shyama -Kund considered sacred lakes to devotees of Krishna.

Radha Kund

Reverential Geese

Seems like we got some blessings since what might have been a walk in the searing sand and heat, turned out to be the coolest day so far. Dark clouds, rolling thunder and cooling breezes framed our pilgimage and we saw peacocks, Nilagais (meaning ‘blue cow’) a type of antelope, electric green parrots, monkeys galore, cows and buffalos.

Nilagai, the 'blue cows' of Govardhana

Pilgrims construct little houses all along the flank of the hill to house prayers, to have ones home blessed, or in some sense to reside here long after leaving. I built a little OCHS, very similar to the one in Oxford and impressed at least one resident with my architectural flair.

The Govardhan branch of the OCHS

Some pilgrims circumnambulate Govardhan over several weeks by daily performing prostrations all around the hill. They mark with a stone each arm extension and proceed with the next prostration from there. It is called dandavat parikrama. I thought a pilgrimage in Ireland up a mountain(Croach Patrick) in bare feet was something but so far this takes the biscuit. Sorry, the digital camera just missed the ‘down’ moment.

Dandavat Parikrama

The four Mondays of the month of Shravan are special days for worshiping Mahadev or Shivji.  Young Brijwasi girls are fasting to get good husbands, while others pray for Mahadev´s blessings to attain prema for Sri Gaura-Govinda.

In Vrindavan last night, Mahadev´s temples were decorated with lights and phool bangla (flower bungalow).  In the late afternoon, under auspiciously cloudy skies I set out to see Bankhandeswar Mahadev.

Bankhandeswar Mahadev Mandir

Sanatana Gosvami used to go for regular parikrama of Goverdhan and take darshan of Chakleswar Mahadev.  As he aged he became too thin and weak to walk the long distance to Goverdhan and back.  Then Mahadev appeared to Sanatan Gosvami in a vision telling him not to visit him at Goverdhan, but instead to come to Bankhandi in Vrindavan where Mahadev would manifest himself especially for him.

Bankhandi Mahadev

I also took darshan at a few other temples, and even made it out to see Sri Gopeswar Mahadev.

Mahakaleswar Mahadev in Sakhi Vesh

Reteswar Mahadev with young devotee (Retiya Bazaar)

Gopeswar Mahadev

Everyday people go on Vrindavana parikrama.This means circumambulating the entire town of Vrindavan with its myriad temples, on a barefoot walk of about 6 miles.

Pilgims on parikrama

Early in the morning when people seem to imagine it is cooler, and especially on Ekadasi (the 11th day of the waxing and waning moon) the parikrama path is packed with pilgrims. During the day too groups continue to add their footprints to this devotional circuit.The reasons may be singular or multilayered for performing this feat.

It might be an act of devotion; an act of atonement or purification; desire to have some prayer or need fulfilled or a wish to gain punya or pious merit.Whatever the motivation it draws people from all traditions and all walks of life.

The route is peppered with shrines and temples, some of them as simple as this Shiva Linga under a tree:

The very Shiva linga mentioned above

Shiva is considered the protector of Vrindavan. There are five famous temples of Shiva in Vrindavan and innumerable simple Shiva linga shrines dotted around the periphery of Vrindavan and beyond.

A protective Shiva in Vrindavan

Door Darshan

Sounds of singing and chanting echo throughout the town competing with the ever-increasing volume of car-horns, rick-shaw bells, and megaphone music.

Listening to  singing behind one door, I met someone on the way out from her temple visitation.

Which leads me to one of my favourite pastimes in India……neck-scratching!

The sacred ritual of cow-tickling!

Inner wear

While Vrindavan resounds with reminders to nurture our inner spiritual life,  a more recent  trend – see body care sign -  competes for more material gain just in case it all gets too spiritual!

Ok will sign off now. A major incentive to send these posts is the air-conditioning in the Internet cafe. It’s not working today so I look and feel like melted  strawberry ice-cream. I will  find a fan and meditate under it!

2009 Kailash Manasarover Mukthinath Yatra The Destiny of Ecstasies

We aspire to specialize in taking Yatris to Kailash Mansarovar . China has opened its doors for the tourist and pilgrims for Kailash Mansarovar region.

2009 Yatra Programme (22 days)

Delhi- Kathmandu – Manasarover – Kailash – Parikrama – North Face – Atmalingam – Kathmandu – Manakamna – Pokhara – Mukthinath – Kathmandu – Delhi

Kailash Manasarover can never be told.Must be experienced……

The Journey through the Himalayas where nothing appears certain is a mystic experience. From saga to  paryang is a dilemma of a being. The journey, clad in destinies of life, teaches many things to the soul.The journey through the Himalayas  towards Kailash and Manasarover where everything is a deserted forest lets one feel the inner self.
The loneliness one experiences through the drive is worth every minute.

Watch The destiny of Ecstasies DVD. Make an important decision.
Contact: priya@kbsconsultants.com
Phone: +91 – 9380633572

A group of about 30 people assembled at the Delhi airport on 8th June 2006 to Board the Indian Airlines flight to Kathmandu scheduled to depart at 2.30 PM. They would join the other members of the group who had earlier travelled by Jet Airways.

TO know more visit to: http://www.thedestinyofecstasies.com

Contact:

S. Sankaran
Flat H,Kulothungan Appartments,
No, 5 Natesan Road
Ashoknagar, Chennai 600 083 India
Phone: +91-44 2489 5341 / 2371 9622
Email: kbsconsultants@gmail.com

Last week, a few days after Purnima (full moon day) was Radha and Krishna´s nocturnal Ban Bihar, or revelry in the sylvan atmosphere of Sri Vrindavan. On this night, say the brajabasis, Radha and Krishna go for Vrindavan Parikrama together. So, after about 8pm the parikrama marg started filling up with ardent devotees desiring to accompany Sri Yugal on Their tour of Vrindavan. Unfortunately I had been feeling quite weak since the ninth when I got a little broiled from riding my bike from Radharaman Mandir to the office under the midday sun. So I did not go for parikrama, but by the grace of Sri Nitai I did manage to catch kirtan at the little Nitai-Gaura temple on parikrama marg, accross the street from the ¨Krishna-Balaram tree.¨ The ashram was founded by Satya Bibi, but is currently being cared for by a disciple of Sri Dina Haridas Babaji Maharaj named Sakhi dasi. Sakhi didi is a renounced lady who heads the seva for these beautiful Sri Vigrahas; stitching all their outfits, performing arati and offering bhog to them.

As I arrived at the mandir I was greeted with smiles and a big handful of watermelon prasad. I was feeling a bit disappointed due to missing the beautiful kirtan at Siddha Gauranga Baba´s ashram (Raman Reti) that evening due to weakness. But just as I stepped into the ashram, in came Chaitanya Das Babaji, the young kirtaniya babaji from Gauranga Baba´s ashram, along with another of the ashramites. They were armed with jhAnj (big cymbals) and khol (mrdanga) ready to play. They sang and played fervently for Sri Nitai-Gaura as others joined in the song. As the kirtan went on, a Russian vaishnavi came in and quite unexpectedly began to dance Brajabasi style, turning and spinning with artful hand gestures. Can anyone resist the lure of Nitai Chand´s radiance?

06/05/09 Pune Hard Rock Cafe
Them Clones .
Medusa .
(Part of the Rolling Stone Summer Rock Tour )

07/05/09 Mumbai Hard Rock Cafe
Them Clones .
Shaa’ir + Func .
(Part of the Rolling Stone Summer Rock Tour )

14/05/09 Gurgaon Blue O, Ambience Mall
Them Clones .

21/05/09 Bangalore Kyra
Them Clones .

22/05/09 Bangalore Kyra
Them Clones ,

Unplugged Set!
23/05/09 Chennai YMCA Amphitheater
Them Clones .
Junkyard Groove .
Part of the Rolling Stone Summer Rock Tour .

28/05/09 New Delhi F Bar
Them Clones  .
Parikrama .
Part of the Rolling Stone Summer Rock Tour .

29/05/09 Gangtok Cafe Live&Loud
Them Clones .

30/05/09 Kolkata Someplace Else
Them Clones  .
Skinny Alley .
Part of the Rolling Stone Summer Rock Tour .

Hariharan. April 06, 2009. 7.00 p.m. onwards. Rock Heights, Hyderabad.

Genre: Ghazal, Pop, Urdu Blues, Fusion, Bollywood, etc.

Performers: Hariharan.

Brought to you by: The Times of India as part of the Times Hyderabad Festival.

About Hariharan: Hariharan is an Indian playback singer in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam,Kannada and Telugu movies, an established ghazal singer, and one of the pioneers of Indian fusion music.

Hariharan entered the world of Tamil films in 1992 introduced by debutant music director A.R Rahman with the patriotic song “Thamizha Thamizha” in Maniratnam’s film Roja. He has been one of the most trusted singer of A R Rahman and has sung many songs for him in long list of movies that includes Roja, Minsara Kanavu, Jeans, Indian, Mudhalvan, Taal, Bombay, Rangeela, Indira, Iruvar, Anbe Aaruyire, Kangalal Kaithu Sei, Sivaji, Alaipayuthey, Kannathil Muthamittal,Guru etc.

The year 1996 was a career milestone; he released the fusion album Colonial Cousins with Bombay-based composer/singer Leslie Lewis. This was the first Indian act to be featured on MTV Unplugged. It won a string of awards including the MTV Indian Viewers’ Choice award. In 2004, he was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri and Yesudas Award for his outstanding performance in music. Hariharan also collaborated with Pakistan-based band Strings for a track called Bolo Bolo.

About the concert: The concert ended at 10:13 p.m. and, with that, I registered myself as a pukka aficionado of Hariharan! Both the concert and the feeling that I have started liking Hariharan’s voice, music, and the talent that he brought live on the stage, began at 7:30 p.m. The feeling is still on. And the aficionado is still craving for more of Hariharan. He wants to download all of his music from the Internet, capture it in a memory card, and release it through the earbuds! And he is eagerly awaiting the next concert because he came to know from one of Hariharan’s interviews that he doesn’t stay at home for too long! [Hariharan, in one of the interviews: “Concerts sell more these days and I have got so used to concerts that if I am continuously in Mumbai my family asks me whether I am not going for one.”]

So, one of his sold-out concerts happened right in the heart of the software area of the city. In Rock Heights. The venue of fun! I remember the Parikrama and Pentagram concert that filled the place with screams of “Rock it!” in last year’s Times Hyderabad Festival. I think, yeah, Rock Heights seems good enough to deliver a joyous experience for music concerts. In my second experience at the venue, Hariharan sang in multiple genres, languages, and tuneful rāgas amidst the cheers, claps, and cries of joy from the crowd. He sang in genres, such as ghazals, pop, Urdu Blues, fusion, Bollywood, sufi, Hindustani classical, and patriotic, using languages, such as Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and English. The concert began with the popular Rajasthani folk song Kesaria Balamva and took a perfect end with the patriotic Jana Gana Mana. The musical journey was filled with melodies, such as Yeh Aaine Se, Tu Hi Re, Waqt Par Bolna, Krishna, Roja, Hai Rama, Kaash, Mohe Apne Hi Rang Mein Rang De, etc.

Not just his singing skills, he was fun to catch live in his pyrotechnics and, in a song or two, a few steps of aerobatics. The headline in the The Times of India pre-concert ad sums up the experience: “Because touching the velvet isn’t quite the same as hearing it.” It was just a different experience in a concert by an Indian singer. A complete entertainment package in an unforgettable evening! Surely, he is raising the bar. Others just need to push the boundaries a bit.

In fact, throughout the concert, Hariharan and I (and probably you, too!) were lost in one common thing: his melodious singing! This getting-lost-in-one-thing, I doubt, would not have been possible without the accompanying musicians and chorus around him! They were just amazing. The crowd widespread in front of him was equally good, supporting every move he made, every request he sang on, every word he said.

Let me play that concert again! Let me cheer him again! Let the fun begin and continue again and again!

Release date :1997
TRACK LISTING :

Parikrama- Till I’m No One Again  
Orange Street- Over ‘n Under  
Gravy Train – Just A Mile Away  
Blud – Different Kind of Lovin’  
Edwin Fernandes –  Blue Turtle Dance   
Olio –  Surulurlu 
Witch Hammer- Riots in Tihar  
Stone Cold – Stone Cold  
Chandrani Banerjee – The Minstrel  
Chakra View – Juice of Chrysanthemum  
Fifth Dimension – Long Way To Go  .
Indian Ocean –  Borroweevil  
Viju George – In Your Arms  
Lou Majaw and the Great Society –  Sea of Sorrow  
Dreadlocks – Dream

Downloaded the sample of Parikrama’s new single ‘One’ from their website. Recently, Parikrama has changed their sound to heavy metal and I absolutely love it. But I personally feel their old sound was more close to their influences whose covers they used to play a lot. The new song, however, reminds me a lot of a band they used to cover with delight, Pink Floyd- the atmosphere, the slide guitar, Nitin’s vocals. Waiting eagerly for them to upload the whole song.

DOWNLOAD PARIKRAMA SONGS

Greetings people, a little longer since I posted, cuz you know I’m pretty lazy. Be that as it may, I was so glad to have dragged my ass to the North of Bangalore on a Sunday afternoon to Palace grounds for the Rock In India festival. Man, the ads said, Iron Maiden performing from 12:00 pm onwards. I wondered “an afternoon concert?”

But as Indian stretchable time goes, there was a serpentine queue which was able to make through the gates only 1 and half hours past the scheduled opening. Very decent, even by Indian standards and the wait was worth it, it turns out, cuz before the bands played we had a dig at the booze, food and the merchandise being sold there in the arena.

Having been a rocker for the good part of my youth in Mumbai, the scene at Bangalore was astonishing. An absolutely rocking atmosphere it was. There were rockers from all over – India – South, North, East, West, UK, Italy, Poland and even Sri Lanka. And, no Indian rock show is complete without your gangs of North-East dudes and their large girlfriend packs, and it fills me with immense pride to say rockers have damn hot girlfriends!! (Not all of them, but most of them)

So the show kicked off with some local bands like Slain, Abraxis and went on to feature several foreign acts. The mood was pretty cool, with your set of headbangers, druggies, people like me who lied down for most of the while taking in the music and the firangs who sat in their corners chilling out. It seemed like a very low-key Woodstock, which is pretty fucking brilliant!!

As the hours ticked by, and the opening acts from bands kept going on, the crowd started getting restless. The crowd jostled as badly as in a Mumbai local trains at rush hour, that too out in the open, under the blazing sun. Just as I thought that I have gotten too old for events like these, the gods of rock arrived to play.

Man oh man, it would be an understatement to say that it was worth the wait. It was amazing, the energy, the excitement to see your teenage heroes in front of you performing and you actually singing, headbanging, air drumming and air guitaring with them. It really was something else. I had been to the same event – Somewhere back in Time tour of Maiden in Mumbai, but somehow I really had a much better time out here.

The rock scene is much better out here, probably because of a largely cosmopolitan population, which comprised a majority of North East rockers!!

All in all, the most unforgettable moment of the night was when Bruce Dickinson was pondering on singing his next song, and was stunned by the unison and harmony of the vocal support that we the Maiden-worshipers were giving him. He actually had to stop and stare at all of us in wonder, then grin and remark,”You’re all fucking crazy tonight, you know that?”

Rock is well and truly alive, my friends…………….

SLAIN the Christian Metal Band from Bangalore  won the vonamor band contest held at the Palace ground , Bangalore. They are one of the several bands lined up to open for Iron Maiden . Parikrama, Kryptos, Synaps, Abraxas, and now Slain are the Indian bands sharing the honors.

SLAIN lineup :
Judah Sandhy – Vocals
Jared Sandhy – Drums
Manek D’silva – Guitars
Bryden Lewis – Guitars
Naresh Nathan – Bass Guitars
Jonathan Wesley – Keyboards

SLAIN on MYSPACE .
Download SLAIN songs on REVERBNATION .

” Y’all might all’ve gawked, awk!!-ed, or just may’ve plainly rocked at this NEW approach. Well, here’s our side of it.

Since 18 years and thousands live, commercial concerts … club/pub/shrub gigs included … AND about 14 years and a humble 2 million GUESTBOOK entries on this website … all we got to hear from the music label czars was … GO HINDI or go bust … ‘n all we ever told them was … really, why not ? … but why really … ???
So finally after all these many years of neither making sense to either … we found a way out. We stay who we are, and sing rock’n roll … lingo, creed, sex – NO BAR…and the latter….pray but ti’s never is … bar bar
AND …
sing bye bye music labels …
we’re yet quite young and able
besides we got MP3 … not the musicians, but the music for free,
so ya can hold yer hindi horses in yer own stables …
So there …
We said it….and now we’re doing it. And it’s all ‘because’ we ‘think’ we got YOU folks here with us.
( SOURCE PARIKRAMA)

DOWNLOAD : ( Right click save )
AM I DREAMING . ( Live )
TEARS OF THE WIZZARD ( Live )
IN THE MIDDLE ( Live )
VAPOURIZE ( Live )
WHISKEY BLUES . (Live )
RYTHM & BLUE .
LOAD UP .
OPEN SKIES .
TILL IM NO ONE AGAIN . ( Source Parikrama.com )
SUPER HERO .
BUT IT RAINED.
WATCH BUT IT RAINED .
PARIKRAMA are:
Nitin malik – Vocals
Sonam Sherpa – Guitar
Saurabh Chaudhary – Guitars.
Chintan Kalra – Bass guitar.
Subir Malik – Keyboards.
Srijan Mahajan – Drumz
Imran Khan – Violin.
Shambhu Nath – Tabla / percussions.