In Buddhism, Puja (derived from Sanskrit puj – to honour or respect) are expressions of “honour, worship and devotional attention”. Acts of puja include bowing, making offerings and chanting.

Bowing
In the context of puja, bowing is a gesture of homage and humility. As a devotional act, one bows to a sacred object. Traditionally, one also bows to parents, teachers, the elderly and monastics.

Offerings
A common style of offering contains light, flowers, incense, fruit, music and water. The flowers for example are a symbol of Annica (everything is impermanent) and Samsara (the cycle of birth, death and rebirth). The candles symbolise enlightenment while incense purifies the air. As water is a necessity of life, it is always present to show respect and reverence for life. To show the interdependence of all things, fruit and food items are offered – also as a symbol of taste. A bell is used to indicate when to begin and end the puja. It is not only something to be heard, but it also demonstrates the belief of cause and effect, and karma. This bell is often placed on a lotus shaped cushion to once again symbolise enlightenment and the cycle of rebirth, as one of the characteristics of a lotus flower is that it sheds its seeds at the same time it blossoms.

Chanting
Typically performed in traditional languages, such as Pali or Tibetan, Buddhist chants assist in the memorization of the Sutta (discourse delivered by Buddha) and imbue a sense of solemnity and tranquility.

Nagas feature in two of the greatest religions, Hinduism and Buddhism where they both have their own roles. In Buddhist belief, they are seen as water spirits who guard the sacred Buddhist text. The nagas are said to have the power of the rain, they live under the waters and look after the rivers, lakes and the sea. Activities that disrespect or disturb their natural habitats are said to anger them. In order to appease the Nagas, a ritual called Naga Puja is conducted. In this ritual, Tibetan monks perform ceremonial music with chanting and make offerings to the nagas in the water.

It is said that nagas only venture out on selected days. Thus, the Naga Puja can only be conducted on specific naga days for the ritual to be effective. These days are marked on the solar-lunar Tibetan Calendar that is based on the Sri Kalachakra Tantra (Wheel of Time Doctrine) and are widely advocated in Tibetan Medicine for picking and making herbal medicines, pulse examination and other treatments. In this calendar, 15 April 2011 is considered an auspicious day for a Naga Puja.

Come join us at our festival opening at the outdoor theatre and experience this unique ceremony conducted by monks from Jamchen Lhakhang Monastery, Nepal. Salt, known for its special healing properties, will be given out to participants at the end of the opening.

Performed by Ramkhamhaeng University Thai Music Ensemble, this is centuries-old music that is haunting and evocative. Called wong piphat, its uniqueness lies in the fact it is played with different combinations of instruments, depending on the purpose and occasion. This imbues each performance with its own mood and cadence, whether it is for a formal official ceremony, to accompany a shadow puppet performance, or an initiation rite. Wong Piphat is the most iconic and commonly used ensemble and includes mainly ranat ek (high pitched xylophone), ranat thum (low pitched xylophone), pi (an oboe), khong wong (a circular set of tuned horizontal gong), and a set of klong (drums). Join us on this rare journey through an iconic form of classical Thai music.

Thai classical music is more than 800 years old. Its origins in the royal centres of central Thailand were influenced by Khmer and Lao practices, and even older practices from India. After centuries of evolution, though, the forms are now unique to Thailand.

Of the three forms of ensembles to be found in this tradition, namely, the piphat, khruang sai and mahori, the piphat is the most iconic. Employed for sacred rituals, the music performed by this small to medium-sized ensemble is believed to have the power to transport the gods and sacred beings earthwards, to the ceremony that is being held.

The piphat’s musical repertoire, called naphat, includes about 200 pieces of music which are divided into sacred pieces, high pieces and teacher’s pieces. These are played in different overtures (homrong), the three most important being the Morning Overture, Daytime Overture and the Evening Overture. The latter is considered the most powerful in its ability to connect different realities, and is a medley of pieces played by a piphat ensemble at the start of many Buddhist and Hindu rituals and at the beginning of music and drama initiation ceremonies and performances.

In Thai society, teaching or passing on knowledge is considered a sacred act. Simple ceremonies (wai khru) are held in schools, in which students reaffirm their allegiance to their teachers, but for a classical musician or artist, the ceremony is considered one of the most important rituals in their life. It is about honouring not just the teacher, but the entire lineage that leads back to the original sources of knowledge, namely, Hinduism, Buddhism and animism.

For instance, all music students are initiated at the start of their studies, and the piece of music they are led through is always the Sathukan (salute or obeisance), which is the first piece in the Evening Overture. This is the most sacred piece in the entire piphat repertoire and is played at initiations and other ceremonies. In a wai khru ceremony, the student, no matter what his instrument is, is taken through the first phase of sathukan on the khong wong yai (gong chimes). This is because the gong chimes play the most basic version of the melody in any ensemble. The student pays respect to and calls to mind great teachers in a physical and mental salutation to the heavenly spirits. In turn, he is recognised by them and granted permission to proceed with his studies.

However few or many musicians there are in a piphat ensemble, there are always five core instruments, namely, the ranad ek (xylophone), pinai (oboe), khlong thad (pair of barrel drums), khong wong yai (gong-chimes) and the taphon (double-headed drum). Ching chap (hand cymbals) also feature.

There are five levels of initiation into the sacred repertoire of this ancient music tradition, and all but one can be learnt only after mastery of the first one. Each level is considered more powerful than the last and only the most advanced students are permitted to learn pieces of the highest order. There is a mystery at the heart of this music tradition, and the Evening Repertoire, is the gateway to unveiling it. What is this mystery? Many have tried to define it, and it has been described variously as a different realm, a sacred space, “a pocket of time and space within real time and space”. Music, in this form, creates a framework, a means to move between dimensions to achieve communion with the gods. Within this space, the performer achieves his most powerful and purest performance.

Sadly, since traditional Thai music was handed down through a performance-based oral tradition, composers remained largely anonymous. But this has changed as composers began to document and notate their compositions, and by the turn of the century, many of the major composers recorded their works, bringing notice for the first time to themselves and their music form. It has to be said, however, that these compositions are considered to be somewhat generic, because the full complexity of such work is only realised in performance.

Thai piphat music first claimed national and international attention with the 2004 release of the film Homrong (The Overture). The story of Thailand’s most famous composer, Luang Phradit Phairoh, it was one of the few Thai movies released internationally with English subtitles.

Trained as a painter and introduced to many Bengali folk music styles from a young age, Parvathy Baul was initiated into Baul practices at the age of 17. Well-known for her masterful solo rendering in the oldest style of Baul song and dance, she sings and dances with minimal accompaniment on Baul instruments like ektara and duggi which she plays at the same time. Hers is a virtuosic and visceral folk style of singing, belting high notes and vocal ornamentation, executed while in a state of musical ecstasy.

Parvathy Baul will enthrall audiences with songs that deals with divine love, the physical existence and the universe.

Within every belief system, there will be some which question and turn conventional wisdom on its head. And in the tapestry that represents spirituality in India, the Bauls represent that counter-force.

In this land of diverse languages, cultures and belief systems, the many forms of traditional Indian music can be roughly divided into the sacred and the secular, of the North and the South.

So, for instance, a North Indian Hindu musician might end his performance with a bhajan, while a South Indian Hindu would choose a kriti. Both are devotional forms. A North Indian Muslim performer, however, would end with a ghazal. The lines between love for God and love for another human are often blurred, coming as they do from a shared well of emotion.

Bhajans are the most popular form of Hindu devotional composition in North India. They are usually about divine love and spiritual freedom, and refer to deities, episodes from the Hindu scriptures, or praise of Lord Krishna. Many date back to the 9^th and 10^th century, and can be heard wherever pilgrims are, or in prayer group meetings around the world. Bhajan lyrics and melodies are simple and designed to be sung by groups.

In Bengal, the popularity of bhajans reached its peak in the 15^th and 16^th centuries. In that land of change and spiritual activity, Hindu and Sufi Muslim sects came to connect with each other and share a belief in worship centred on devotional love. These cross-religious encounters led to the founding of the Baul philosophy in Bengal and Bangladesh, while it also shaped Sikhism in the Punjab.

Additional readings