The veena is a musical instrument and it has names such as the Rudra veena, the Saraswati veena, the Raghavendra Swamy veena and others. It is an important instrument used in the classical Carnatic music.Ancient musicians and sages used to play the Veena by singing devotional songs on the almighty. The great saints PurandaraDasa and Kanaka Dasa used to play the Veena by singing devotional songs on Lord Hari in the court of the great king Krishnadevaraya, the king of Vijayanagara. Famous Madhwa saint Sri Guru Raghavendra Swamy and his father Sri Timmanna used to wonderfully play the Veena.
Veena would be played during musical concerts, marriage functions and in religious festivals. By hearing the divine music from the instrument Veena, we would become more cheerful and active. Rich feast would be provided to our ears whenever we listen to the veena music. Saint Thyagaraja, an ardent devotee of Lord Rama, had sung many melodious songs on Lord Rama by playing his Veena with great bhakti. Celestial musicians like Narada and Tumburu used to play the veena while visiting the divine worlds. Lord Indra used to eagerly hear the Veena music, which would be played by the celestial Gandharvas. Veena is a worshipful instrument, and it must be maintained properly by the musicians. Compared to ancient times, nowadays, Veena instrument is not gaining much importance, since lot of modern musical instruments are being used.
It is believed that whenever Guru Raghavendra plays the Veena, Lord Krishna would arrive to his place, and sit near to him to hear the divine music. Subject to slight variations, Sithar and Veena are considered as the same. Sithar is being widely used by the Hindustani musicians, and Sithar music is very popular in North India. It is believed that goddess Saraswati is keeping the Veena in her both hands and playing the Veena, and in pictures also Mata Saraswati can be seen playing the divine veena.
Veena music is one among the mantras available in the Mantra chanting box cum devotional player sold by M/S. R & R Spirituals in their online store www.poojabell.com
“OM”
WRITTEN BY R.HARISHANKAR
