Naad Samyama

Mukund Dev Sahoo, the founder of Dhrupad Music Foundation (DMF) is a young upcoming vocal AIR Dhrupad performing artist and Naad Yoga focused Dhrupad classical music teacher from Bhuwaneshwar, India. He has carved a special place in the Dhrupad space with his uniqueness in rendering Dhrupad Aalap with the entire mantra “OM Hari Ananta Narayana Tarana Taarana Tvam” exuding Dhrupad’s bhakti essence, as Deva Vani Dhrupad; which was born in his last 40-day period of the 200-day intense Dhrupad – Naad Sadhana in the Himalayas. Mukund Dev’s passion is to spread Dhrupad reaching out to the common folks and children, the torch bearers of the future, for spiritual centering and wellness and to preserve this ancient Dhrupad art form.

• Sameer Inamdar – Website
• Sameer Inamdar – Youtube channel
• Sameer Inamdar on curved flute

Sameer Inamdar, founder of Dhrupad Gurukul is a young Dhrupad artist based in Pune, India. He is the innovator of the Dhrupad (curved) flute, an ethereal sounding curved bansuri, bamboo flute, versatile in playing the entire range of the three octaves with a single flute. As a performer and teacher of Dhrupad vocal cum Bansuri playing and with his focus on Naad Yoga, he offers Dhrupad-Naad yoga workshops within and outside of the country. As a teacher his immense patience in teaching the intricate micro-tonal sounds of Dhrupad with Dhrupad (curved) flute is a testament to his passion for the art. The innovative curved bamboo flute designed to produce the three octave range of sound “naad” of the Dhrupad flute, demonstrates the ingenuity of his background in arts and engineering sciences.

Shilpa Shanker Narain, with her melodious soulful voice, is a young performing vocal Dhrupad artist and a teacher from Manila, Philippines. Shilpa has embarked on a journey to invoke compositions of Dikshitar, a saint and a composer of the Carnatic music trinity in Dhrupad music. Her essence being to dissolve the barriers in the music space of the different genres. A brave endeavor and an offering of her phenomenal contributions to classical music – the meeting place for Dhrupad and Carnatic music. Shilpa is also focused on Naad Yoga as a meditative sadhana and sound as a means of healing.

Gaayatri, founder of Naad Yog Shala is a practicing Naad Yogini trained in the ancient Vedic practice of vibrational yoga practiced through sound in the form of Hindustani Raaga music. She was trained by her Guru to represent this rare vocal practice in its most authentic form. Her training was deeply rooted in learning the kriyas or techniques of practicing Raaga as a tool for spiritual enlightenment, which is also her lifestyle practice. Her unique style is characterized by its roots in the oldest from of Raaga music through Vedic Dhrupad. This style carries an overarching emphasis on tonal purity attuning to one’s resonance of Naad and Raaga elaboration based on the principles of vibrational energetics of the Raagas.

Paul Livingstone, a lifelong musician has traveled the world performing classical ragas and rhythms of South Asia. He has just returned from his 10th trip to India in January 2024, sharing music  around the country. In addition to playing in the traditional context of raga music, he also brings these forms into contemporary world music as a sitarist, fretless guitarist, upright bass player and composer. His Dhrupad Sadhana, an exploration of diverse voices of Dhrupad artists around the world, is a non-profit Soul Force project, emphasizing the universal human values of inspiration and motivation that drive artists of all ages to keep this ancient musical form thriving in the 21st century.