"Recently, we went to Coimbatore for a special mass. The rest of the year, they sing at prayer meetings. The choir's schedule is pretty tight during Christmas and New Year. She then tunes the harmonium to set the scale and asks the children to identify the raga. The class begins with Santhi asking a student to pray for the success of the session. But instead of Sri Gananatha, a simple song in praise of Ganesha that most students start with, the children are taught a song in praise of Jesus in the same raga and tala. Santhi teaches her students the basics of Carnatic music, just like any other teacher. "Many of these songs were written 50 or 60 years ago, but no one has been singing them as most choirs tend to follow the western style of singing," says Santhi, who is a graduate in Carnatic music. The students get a book of 400 Christian kritis in Tamil each song comes with specific instructions about the raga and tala in which it should be sung. Santhi teaches her students Tamil kritis (songs), in praise of Jesus, written by various composers. "I started these classes in 2000 as parents said they wanted their children to learn Christian songs set to Carnatic ragas," she says. Beulah Santhi, the choir teacher, has students ranging from age four to forty. Limsas, a choir based in Chennai that sings at religious congregations across the city, starts its kutcheri (Carnatic music concert) with a prayer and the traditional sa re ga ma. They wear Kanjeevaram saris and jasmine flowers, and the trinity they sing praise to is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The words may not be very different from the hymns sung at prayer services, but rather than standing behind the priest and singing to the notes of the organ, these choir singers sit cross-legged on the floor as a traditional Carnatic ensemble, complete with violin, harmonium and mridangam (a South Indian percussion instrument). Choir groups too are getting into the act. The lyrics of traditional Carnatic music compositions are usually devotional or philosophical in nature, drawing on Hindu religious tenets - and now Christians too are setting their hymns to classical ragas and talas.
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