Sandhya Anand started Saüskçtasaïgãtam School of Music with the sole objective to teach Carnatic music in its authentic form to seeking minds and bring out the best in the students of the institution. Train the next generation rooted in tradition is our motto.
In this part of the world we have amazing and talented young minds that still cherish their culture and roots. It is with a sense of honor, privilege and pride, that I have embarked on this developmental journey by establishing an institution where I hope to synergize structure with personalized teaching. She wants to impart the beauty of Sanskrit literature -- Kàvyas, Nàtakas, Itihàsas, Puràõas coupled with the beautiful Kãrtanas, Kçtis and other musical forms to enthusiastic aspirants. Practical music, theoretical aspects and requisite language skills is taught to bring out overall development in the students. She holds workshops and summer camps for aspirants to share whatever she has learnt from her Gurus. Her students have performed and bagged awards in several national festivals.
Why did I name this institution "Saüskçtasaïgãtam School of Music"?
Right from childhood, I have had a fascination towards Saïgãtam (music) and Saüskçtam ("Sanskrit") language. When I was thinking of a name for my school, I wanted to highlight and integrate the two worlds dear to my heart Saüskçtam and Saïgãtam. Placing them together unveiled several meaningful imports -- "Classical and pure music", "Saüskçtam and Music" or "Songs, the lyrics of which are in Saüskçtam" as well as the deeper and intimate bonds between these ancient entities as elaborated in the Sàmaveda scripture.
The logo of the school expands on the latter. The "Saüskçtam" in "Saüskçtasaïgãtam School of Music" is depicted by the small two headed drum, ôamaru. The ôamaru is known as the instrument of Lord Shiva. The powerful vibrations and sounds that emanated from the ôamaru were heard and interpreted by the great sages as a sequence of alphabets. The renowned scholar, Pàõini, expounded on this in his book Aṣṭādhyāyī consisting of eight chapters. Thus Sanskrit Grammar came into existence. Below is the defining or quintessential ÷loka that describes the origin of the Sanskrit alphabet from Lord Shiva's ôamaru.
नृत्तावसाने नटराजराजो ननाद ढक्कां नवपञ्चवारम् ।
उद्धर्त्तुकामः सनकादिसिद्धानेतद्विमर्शे शिवसूत्रजालम् ॥
At the end of His Cosmic Dance, Shiva, the Lord of Dance, with a view to bless the sages Sanaka and so on, played on His ôamaru fourteen times, from which emerged the following fourteen såtras, popularly known as øiva-såtras or Màhe÷vara-såtras
01. अ इ उ ण् ।
02. ऋ ऌ क् ।
03. ए ओ ङ् ।
04. ऐ औ च् ।
05. ह य व र ट् ।
06. ल ण् ।
07. ञ म ङ ण न म् ।
08. झ भ ञ् ।
09. घ ढ ध ष् ।
10. ज ब ग ड द श् ।
11. ख फ छ ठ थ च ट त व् ।
12. क प य् ।
13. श ष स र् ।
14. ह ल् ।
The two acalasvaras S and P originated from the powers of Lord Shiva and Shakti and each of the notes R G M D and N originated from the faces of Shiva. Thus both the svaras in Carnatic Music and the alphabets of Saüskçtam had a unitary origin -- Lord Shiva himself. The origin of the Music as svaras is also referred to in the Nàrada-parivràjaka-upaniùad.
Accordingly, in the logo, as the Saüskçtam alphabets radiate from the ôamaru on the left, SRGMPDN, the saptasvara notes of classical Saïgãtam emanate from the violin on the right.
