Capturing the beauty of Indian bhajans in a unique fusion

Aradhna: Capturing the beauty of Indian bhajans in a unique fusion

Be it Rap, Techno or Rock N Roll, they came like a wind, and also vanished like a wind. Music lovers in India have followed different styles of music in the West, but most of them have always come back to the traditional Indian style based on ragas. However, some have remained in a dilemma of the East or the West.

Aradhna(meaning worship), a unique fusion band in Atlanta can put a full stop to this dilemma, as it brings the best of both the West and the East. That is why it is catching the fancy of people from all walks of life in the West and the Sub-continent by chanting Indian Bhajans in their unique style of fusion.

Aradhna, formerly known as Olio in India, was formed in 1992 by vocalist and sitarist/guitarist, Christopher Hale, mime artist, Jose M.D., and producer-engineer, T.S. Sebastian, in Lucknow. India's most popular rock magazine, The Rock Street Journal called 'Surulurulu' a Nepali folk song sung by Olio "The Great Indian Rock"
The band performed anything from rock shows at universities in Delhi and rock operas on the streets of Kathmandu, to small bhajan satsangs (nights of devotional song) in villages on the outskirts of Lucknow. Their first audio recording, Video (1994), was predominantly an English rock album. However, the two most popular songs on the album were a Christ-Hindi bhajan called Aparampar by Peter John, and a Nepali folk song called Surulurulu. The music video of Aparampar featured regularly on national television in the following years.

Encouraged by the success of the eastern songs, OLIO recorded Naam Leo Re (Take The Name). Though all the songs on the album are traditional Indian melodies, the styles represented vary from Indian folk and classical sounds, to rock and reggae. The songs on Naam Leo Re were written by bhajan composers: Garib Das, Anil Dev and Peter John, and arranged by OLIO.

In 2000, Christopher, the lead vocalist and guitarist, left India to form Aradhna with Peter Hicks in Atlanta. They recorded their debut album, Deep Jale. Christopher returned to India to work again with OLIO on a new project that would mix some of the influences of both the bands. The result was an album named after the first Christ bhajan, Aparampar. In 2002 Aradhna recorded this, their second album, Marga Darshan. Combining the ideas from Deep Jale and the new instruments used in Aparampar, this album was recorded both in India and at their studio in Atlanta. Aparampar, Naam Leo Re, Deep Jale, along with Marga Darshan, are available on CD.

The group captures the beauty of India’s bhajans with a music that fascinates people from the East as well as West. When gentle plucking of sitar merges with that of guitar, it stirs listeners?heart and lifts their soul to worship the living God. You can't help having a deep sense of devotion, which connects you to Yeshu as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. This is what we call Satsang (fellowship with the Truth)!