Living in Australia

Kirtan artist Madhava visits Australia for the first time in March - April, 2010.

He starts a four city tour with a 24 hour kirtan in Murwillumbah on March 27 - 28, and weaves his way up and down the country over the next three weeks.

Here are the dates for Madhava's tour (those that are tba will be updated as we get the information), followed by his bio.

MURWILLUMBAH, NSW
Saturday, March 27, 5:00 PM
24 hour kirtan featuring Madhava (until Sunday 5:00 PM)
Hare Krishna Community
525 Tyalgum Rd, Eungella
02 6672 6579

BYRON BAY, NSW
Tuesday, March 30, 7:30 PM
Kirtan concert
venue tba
Byron Bay, NSW

SURFERS PARADISE, QLD
Wednesday, March 31, 6:00 PM
Kirtan concert
The Bhakti Centre
Trust House, 3070 Surfers Paradise Blvd, Surfers Paradise. 1st floor

SYDNEY, NSW
Friday, April 2, 8:00 PM
Kirtan concert
Body Mind Life Yoga
55 Foveaux St, Surrey Hills

SYDNEY, NSW
Saturday, April 3 - Monday, April 5
Nightly Kirtan
ISKCON Temple
180 Falcon St, North Sydney

MELBOURNE, VIC
Thursday April 8 - Sunday April 11
Venues tba

BRISBANE, QLD
Thursday April 15, 8:00PM
Kirtan concert
Brisbane City Yoga
Level 2, 129 Margaret Street

Artist Information

Madhava

With a tuft of matted dread-locks erupting from his otherwise shaven head, a sculpted goatee, and a host of piercings and tattoos, you expect Madhava to be a punk rocker — that is until the moment he closes his eyes, opens his mouth, and begins to sing. Before he completes one line, the sweetness captures your mind. And by the time you are repeating the refrain, you are his—hook, line, and sinker. If you had any plans for the next few hours go ahead and cancel them, and instead make yourself an appointment with the ecstatic chanting of sacred mantras. Welcome to kirtan, Madhava-style.

About Kirtan:
Kirtan is a folk form that arose from the devotional Bhakti movement of 15th century India. The primary musical feature of kirtan is the use of call and response, a figure that also deeply informs Western bluegrass, gospel music and jazz. The form is simple: a lead group calls out the melodies and the mantras. The crowd responds, clapping and dancing and the rhythms build and accelerate.

The mantras that are used in kirtan are mainly Sanskrit names for the Divine. Sanskrit is the oldest language known, and its sounds and their meanings are primordial. Kirtan is a consciousness-transforming and raising activity, where music and song are used to bring everyone together in a beautiful experience of collective expression of the divine. The mantras quiet the mind, the music frees the heart.

About Madhava:
A native of Mauritius, Madhava – né Joy Naidoo – was given his first drum at the age of 5. At 18, he moved to Vrindavan, a place of pilgrimage in India where kirtan has been practised continuously for centuries. He spent the next seven years living in an ashram, doing kirtan daily with the Krishna Balarama 24 Hour Kirtan Mandali, under the direction of legendary 24-hour kirtan leader, Aindra Dasa. While there he played the mrdanga drum for hours on end, day after day, honing his rhythmic skill and sensitivity. Unbeknownst to him, through bootleg recordings he was also becoming an influential figure in the global kirtan scene, all while sitting on the dusty floor of a small temple in a village in India.

When Madhava left to return to the West, his mentor Aindra impressed on him that he had to take the kirtan back with him from Vrndavan — telling him: "Now it is you who must lead the kirtan".

Based in Switzerland, Madhava travels extensively through Europe and the US with his partner Radhika and his band Gaura Prema, enlivening audiences with the power of devotional kirtan. He fuses his Mauritian roots with the influences of India to produce a unique style of kirtan, but one in which the main ingredient is the heartfelt bhakti. This year Madhava visits the shores of Australia for the first time.

Others on Madhava:
"Madhava's kirtan is one of the most transcendent kirtan experiences I've ever had. He sings with so much heart and dedication that every one who is present is effortlessly transported to another universe on waves of his chanting. His melodies are rich and inviting, his voice is honest and true, and he always surrounds himself with beautiful musicians and artists - all part of his artful way of revealing a doorway to the divine world through sacred chant. Madhava is a treasure to hear and to join with in kirtan. I pray that I'll be chanting with him for many years to come, basking in the warm glow of the names of the divine."
— Gaura Vani
Bandleader - As Kindred Spirits
Creative Director - Mantralogy

"Madhava is a powerful and inspirational devotional singer and master of mantra singing. His music and melodies bring ecstacy to our singing and dancing, bathing us in happiness as we respond to his illuminating voice."
— Loren Russo
Yoga teacher, Miami FL, USA

"Madhava’s singing touches the heart.... his chanting is always sweet and full of energy. It is a wonderful experience being in his kirtans."
— Dr. Nisha Vastani
Research Scientist, Uni Hospital- Zurich, Switzerland

"The kirtana of Madhava has an almost magnetic influence. The mind and heart get totally attracted, then drawn into the inside world where one can meet the soul of the universe. Tune in and you will have a deeply rewarding, spiritual experience."
— Sacinandana Swami
Inspirational speaker and spiritualist

I love Keka's Australia Day rants - and this guy has the right idea.

That's a photo of the Ramsa SX1 mixing console. David Jorm and I went to Brisbane's biggest megachurch tonight, and that's the console that they use for mixing the on-stage foldback. It can do ten separate monitor mixes. There is another mixing console to do front-of-house. The monitor engineer stage-side and FOH engineer on front communicate via radio headsets.

On stage they had 13 vocalists, four guitarists, two keyboardists, a bass player, and a drummer. Each of them had a foldback wedge or an in-ear monitor. The sound was great. The space was designed acoustically, and the sound system line array [wikipedia] was computer engineered for tight frequency dispersion.

Aside from the technology to "Amplify His Name" (a slogan written on the wall in the youth centre that we saw in a brief tour before the service), this megachurch, and in fact any successful spiritual service centre meets a number of needs of the congregation, which leads to increased popularity.

Here are the needs that need to be met, to be successful:

• Help me find a mate
• Help me maintain my marriage
• Help me raise my kids
• Entertain me
• Engage me
• Give me a spiritual perspective on my life (meaning, context, purpose, bigger picture)
• Give me community with like-minded people

In these videos you can hear the "roar of the kirtan". The energy and sound were incredible.

Various mp3s coming soon. I'll have to check, but the sound in the webstream sounded different to the sound in the video, at least when I was listening to it there on headphones...

After four months of planning and the concerted efforts of devotees across Australia, here it is - the Gaura Vani and As Kindred Spirits with the Mayapuris Australian Tour 2009 .

Here's a rundown of what's happening and when:

Thursday 22nd October

Event: Mrdanga Clinic with the Mayapuris
Venue: Contact Sitapati for details
Time: 3pm - 5pm
Location: Brisbane
Cost: $25 suggested donation

Friday 23rd October

Event: Kirtan concert
Venue: Broadbeach Surf Life Saving Club
Time: 7pm
Location: Broadbeach
Cost: $15/$10 presale from Pashin stores

Saturday 24th October

Event: Maha Kirtan 3
Venue: Graceville State School
Time: 1pm - 8:30pm
Location: 23 Acacia Ave, Graceville
Cost: Free entry - strictly limited numbers: be there early!

Sunday 25th October

Event: New Govardhana Maha Kirtan
Venue: New Govardhana Farm Community
Time: 3pm - 8:00pm
Location: 522 Tyalgum Rd, Eungella
Cost: Free entry

Monday 26th October

Event: Kirtan Concert
Venue: Byron Yoga Centre
Time: 6:30pm - 9:00pm
Location: 51 Border St, Byron Bay
Cost: $15/$10 presale at BYC

Wednesday 28th October

Event: Mrdanga Clinic with the Mayapuris
Venue: Sydney ISKCON Temple
Time: 3pm - 5pm
Location: 180 Falcon St, North Sydney
Cost: $25 suggested donation

Event: Maha Kirtan
Venue: Sydney ISKCON Temple
Time: 5:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: 180 Falcon St, North Sydney
Cost: Free Entry

Thursday 29th October

Event: Kirtan Concert
Venue: Mind Body Life Yoga
Time: 8:00pm - 10:00pm
Location: 55 Foveaux St, Surrey Hills
Cost: $20/$15 presale

Saturday 31st October - Sunday 1st November

Event: 24 Hour Kirtan
Venue: ISKCON Melbourne temple
Time: 4:00 pm Sat - 10:00pm Sun
Location: 197 Danke St, Albert St
Cost: free entry

Tuesday 3rd November

Event: Kirtan Concert
Venue: Urban Yoga
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: 123 Swanston St, Melbourne
Cost: tba

This is a press release that we wrote for the festival. It's published online here, and will make its way into local newspapers over the next couple of weeks. This is the first press release that I've had published, and it augurs well for the publicity for the upcoming Gaura Vani & as Kindred Spirits tour in October.

Brisbane’s Roma St Parklands will soon be the scene of the largest Krishna’s Birthday festival in the Southern Hemisphere outside of India, where it has been celebrated annually by millions of people over the last three thousand years.

On Sunday August 23rd, from 12pm to 6pm, the Parkland’s Celebration Lawn will transform into an exotic experience of tastes, sounds and colours.With 5-10,000 people expected to attend and a list of invited dignitaries including the Premier Anna Bligh, Lord Mayor Campbell Newman, and Councillor David Hinchcliffe, the festival, celebrating the rich cultural contribution of India to Australia, has something for the whole family to enjoy.

Your taste buds will be tempted, with a huge variety of delicious food available from stalls throughout the day.

Ranchor Das, chef at Brisbane’s famous Hare Krishna restaurant, Govindas, will be on hand and will be holding cooking demonstrations, teaching culinary enthusiasts how to prepare the delectable dishes on Govindas popular lunchtime menu.

The award winning Nepali Artist, Rashmi Amatya, is joining us especially for the event, to exhibit her devotional art which is an avenue for expression, as she has been deaf all her life.

The main stage will present a mix of music, dance and drama throughout the day, while Byron Yoga, Byron Bay’s longest running yoga school, will be giving free yoga classes.
The kids will be kept entertained by a plethora of children’s activities, including the ever popular jumping castle and a dedicated tent full of children’s activities.

Entry to the festival is free, and a yoga retreat worth $1250 is being given away as a door prize, so don’t miss this opportunity to experience the exotic sights and sounds of India right here in Brisbane.

The Krishna Birthday Festival will be held on Sunday August 23rd from 12pm to 5pm and all Brisbane residents are invited to come and participate in this major cultural event.

For further information contact Taraka Sticha on 0402 599 416

[A recent news article (May 21, 2009) also reinforced my conviction in my analysis. I've reproduced a portion of it below, embedded in excerpts from last year's post "There's Always One" (May 23, 2008)]

My call to nuke the Chinese is an ironic device. Unfortunately, it is actually the most sane thing to do given our current situation, which is an indication of how insane our current situation is. With the consumption of the Chinese rising to meet Australian standards the global economic and environmental situation is untenable. The only result of this can be the inevitable clash of the Americans and the Australians with the Chinese, and the Indians, and the Russians, and the Africans, and every other group who wants to live like we do.

Unless the Australians and Americans reduce their consumption and model a more responsible sustainable lifestyle, war with the Chinese, eventually an overt military one, caused by an economic one over the dwindling resources, is the near future of the human race.

- There's Always One, atmayogi.com, May 23, 2008

THE US has declared it "is not ceding the Pacific to anyone" in a forceful response to the rise of China and the Rudd Government's defence white paper, which last month flagged the possibility of US dominance fading in the Asia-Pacific region in the decades ahead.

Asked by The Australian in a briefing with foreign journalists about Washington's response to Canberra's defence blueprint, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was emphatic that Washington was looking to deepen its ties in the region and wanted to do more with allies such as Australia.

She made it clear the US, which has a huge naval presence in the Asia-Pacific based in Hawaii, was not going anywhere.

"We want Australia as well as other nations to know the United States is not ceding the Pacific to anyone," Ms Clinton said.

She stressed that Washington was also "sending a clear message that the United States will be engaged - we are a trans-Pacific power and a trans-Atlantic power."

- Hillary Clinton firmly commits the US to Asia-Pacific security, The Australian, May 21, 2009

Being lukewarm is a cop out. Why stop at killing millions of animals? If you are going to be a killer, then you should be logical about it and kill the Chinese before they kill you. Otherwise, if you do find that idea abhorrent, then take a look at the logical consequences of where this meat-eating is taking us. The Mahabharata tells us: "There is not enough gold, grains, or women in the world to satisfy the desire of one man" - what to speak of one billion Chinese, plus 400 million Americans, plus 20 million Australians plus the rest of the world.

Our irresponsibility in failing to set an example of responsible, sustainable consumption is leading the world to war over dwindling resources, and ecological and environmental disaster. Face up to it. If we don't become vegetarian now, we should drop a nuke on China. It's the only way to make our current diet and lifestyle sustainable.

So stop being so irresponsible: either push the red button, or give up the red meat.

- There's Always One, atmayogi.com, May 23, 2008

Here's the final, stand-up kirtan of the Sunday Feast, ably lead by Maha-mantra das.

It's a simple four mic affair: a Shure WH-30 condenser headset mic for the lead vocal, a Behringer C2 condenser for the room, and a couple of Shure SM58s - one for the backing vocal (Param Satya and Prahlad), and one for Sridhar's saxophone.

If I'd had time to set up (this is just straight after the "stage" kirtan), I would have set up two additional mics - another C2 for a stereo image, and an omnidirectional condenser for more of the room, which would have helped to put more drums in it - I could have taken all the top end off that one and boosted it up to put more bass in the mix.

I've mastered this one really hot, and left the cartals in their full glory (I usually put a low pass filter on the room mics to bring them down). The vocal is so high that it's still the most prominent element, and that's the most important thing - the chanting.

• Maha-mantra Sunday Feast Kirtan (mp3, 30MB, 21:48)

Enjoy!
- Sitapati "That's me playing the chimptas" das

50 cents at the recent Book fair at the Convention Centre in Southbank. We got 40 books for 37 bucks. Lots for Prahlad's school. I had a copy of William Gibson's Idoru in my hand, but somehow it didn't make it to the checkout and back to our house. I'm sure that Param Satya put it back, but she denies all knowledge...

I'll see if someone at work has a copy they can lend me. I'd like to read it.

This weekend we went to the Brisbane Yoga Fest.

This is the third year of the grass-roots, community event organised by Jonathan Murphy and his partner Tanya. We've participated each of those years, and watched as the festival has grown in scope.

(Apologies for the photos - I'm not such a good photographer. Sound is more my thing)

For the last two years it's been held at the Old Museum in Bowen Hills, a wonderful piece of architecture:

This year we didn't have a yoga stand, as our underground studio (aka: our house) is already at capacity with 12-16 people coming to the evening classes. Adina-lila and Prema Yogi organized a prasadam stall. The piping hot soy chai and vegan gluten-free carob muffins were a big hit with the punters after the chai tent wallahs cancelled due to sickness (Oink oink).

Here's a shot of Brian, an Atma old-timer from when we first started in 2004, helping out:

Bhakta Leonardo serving out:

I got there at 2pm, as Param and I had to teach three classes at the temple in the morning. Param taught a class at Yogafest at 3pm. This year there were three studios with classes going all day. Param had about 100 people for her class. Afterwards a bunch of people asked her where she teaches. She had to tell them: "Nowhere!". Those who know, know... ;-)

There were a number of stalls around on the grass outside the Museum:

I made an appearance at the Fusion Hot Yoga stall to sign autographs:

I got totally soaked and frozen riding my scooter home from the temple before coming to Yogafest, but that was a brief 30 minute shower in an otherwise clear, sunny autumn day in Brisbane:

Here's a shot of the sky at around 5pm, which is sunset here at the moment:

Here's a close up of the green bin in that picture:

A beautifully clear, full moon night: