Though music is a universal thing, Indian classical music has a very distinctive feature of its own. The very origin of Indian classical music is in the praise of the Supreme Power of the Almighty. Thus, Indian classical music has a spiritual value, rather than an entertainment value. A performance is almost like a symphony being played, with the difference that the Indian “symphony” is not written. The artist creates it during the course of his recital, always keeping within the framework of the raga. The music is essentially an extension of a prayer but the artist is morally bound to offer his music as a gift of peace and joy to all who hear the music. The insight of the musician is thus conveyed to the listeners. On this album Rash Behari Datta plays the raga “Koushiki.” On the sitar this raga is very close to the popular raga “Kounsi-Kanhra.” During the Mughal period of India many new ragas were created and many new combinations were tried. Out of these the Kanhras type of raga became very popular. The Kounsi-Kanhra is also a combination of two ragas: the Malkouns and the Kanhra.
