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The Universe is pervaded by sound. Traditional science speaks of primeval sound of creation, a universal experience of reality. IGNCA’s concern in rethinking and redefining fundamental concepts has led it to deliver on this very deep issue. What is important in this venture is neither the subjective religious doctrine nor the objective model of science, but truth as perceived and lived by humans. Recently, the Centre had organized a seminar on Dhvani intended to address the various fields connected to the notion of sound.

A discourse intersted in illuminating the relation of sound to humans must go beyound physics as also beyond humans. Santhal perception of sound, provides a viable theory of acoustic environment influencing cultural conception of sound, forming an intuitive picture of the natural world on the basis of which animal sound is communicable to humans.

The Centre’s perspective and method in terms of culturally constituted and historically identifiable concepts of sound have been further made graspable by Kapila Vatsyayan’s Foreword to Brhaddesi, an ancient musical text of rare merit, which enunciates a distinct theory of sound.

Vihangama swings into the wider sphere of art and nature. Music is not a mere sound, poems are not simple words of thought. The mystery of musical sound and the poems of living words possess powers to liberate. Coomaraswamy’s Vidyapati Padavali highlights the spiritual significance of the living songs.

Dance echoes the same reality. To play music, to speak the words, and to perform the dance are not unrelated acts. Their inner affinities are maintained by the presence of divinity in theatrical performance of the Mahabharata tradition that makes the distinction between folk and classical, art and ritual, past and present, man and God, virtually irrelevant.

The true meaning and the message of art can be grasped only by transcending the mental plane. The sacrament of art is a fundamental intuition in all traditional cultures. In the Persian tradition, art or Honar is a holy act. One of the names of Allah Almighty is "Al-Musawwir", the Artist.

The Pauranic tradition holds the same view, establishes relationship between art and Nature. Bereft of a unitary vision man today is ambivalent of Nature. The new world view undermines Nature in various ways, resulting in environmental crisis. From the ashes of the ancient wisdom, search for a miracle tree of life support systems seems innocently logical.

Vihangama takes the view that what is happening today is too serious to be dismissed as changing times. Man has become destroyer of Nature and exploiter of his own species. True to its objective, UNESCO has addressed itself to this state of human emergency. The Barcelona Declaration on Peace is UNESCO’s realization of the human conditions of reality and a commitment, more substantial than ever, to work toward achieving world peace.

Some sixty years ago a righteous war was wedged against violence, political oppressions, poverty and injustice. IGNCA’s Dharma Yuddham, a shadow puppet show on Mahatma Gandhi’s message of truth and non-violence, awakens the spirit of the Barcelona Declaration.

The fundamental insight of this issue is that art is nature, nature art, art is culture, culture art. Because the Uiverse, is the original, the sacred artefact.

B.N. Saraswati

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