Chanting Courses & Events

An amazing opportunity to spend a weekend exploring the basics of Vedic Chanting with Sheela Shankar, long time student of TKV Desikachar and resident of Chennai.

Sheela is visiting the UK to conduct a series of courses and we are delighted to be able to offer this addition to the programme.
This weekend workshop will explore the fundamentals of Vedic Chanting and explain the structure of the Veda.

This programme is ideal if you are new to chanting, or have some experience, but would like to understand Vedic Chanting better and refine your practice.

T. Krishnamacharya was not only a master of Yoga – philosophy, practice, and therapy, but also a great scholar of all the Darsanas and given the highest titles in each of them, such as Sankhyayoga Siromani, Nyayacarya, and Vedanta Vagisa. In addition, he had a deep knowledge of the Vedas, Ayurveda, Jyotisa, and Sanskrit Grammar, to list just four of the many areas of his expertise. 

It is his expertise in Sanskrit that will be our focus in this workshop. More specifically, his ability to compose verses in Sanskrit on a range of different topics. 

Over the four days, we will chant the four works listed below:
* ādiśesāṣṭakam – a prayer to Patañjali as ādiśesa
* yogāñjalisāram – verses on the essence of Yoga
* dhyānamālikā – verses that contain the highest teaching of Yoga, the gīta, the upaniṣads, and other great texts
* Sandhyasāram – verses that describe the Sandhyavandanam ritual – the ‘home’ of the Gayatri mantra

In addition, we will also cover selected verses from the Yoga Rahasya, the secret teaching of Yoga given by the great saint, Nathamuni, and include some voice exercises and other simple chants.