Thevaram - Outpourings of Tamil Devotion (music) [album, mp3]

Thevarams are devotional hymns sung in praise of Shiva by the 3 Nayanmars: Sambandar, Thirunavukkarasar and Sundarar. Rendered in an ancient musical style that precedes most Indian classical music systems, these songs give us an insight into the wave of bhakti that swept across southern India during the 7th Century. The Isha Thevaram album is an effort to make these outpourings of immense devotion available to the modern era. The Nayanmars travelled the length and breadth of South India, predominantly in current day Tamil Nadu, and the temples in this region find a place in their songs. The 275 temples mentioned in Thevaram are referred to as “Paadal Petra Thalam,” which literally means “the temples that were sung in the verses”. The singing of Thevaram is still an active process in many Shiva temples in Tamil Nadu.

Here, students of Isha Samskriti have rendered selections of Thevaram, as an offering to today’s world.