Divya Jyoti – a Prayer with Soul

Divya Jyoti – a Prayer with Soul

An amalgamation of extraordinary collection of Bhajans, Mantras, Shlokas and Aartis in a first ever one of its kind Album, featuring a unique blend of Karaoke with Bhajans

The Sangit Kala Kendra Academy launched `Divya Jyoti Bhajan Karaoke DVD’ - an amalgamation of extraordinary collection of Bhajans, Mantras, Shlokas and Aartis in a first ever one of its kind Album, featuring a unique blend of Karaoke with Bhajans – at their annual socio-cultural event on Friday, October 25, 2013, at Sophia Bhabha Auditorium, Breach Candy, Mumbai.

The Divya Jyoti Bhajan Karaoke DVD was unveiled by the President, moving spirit and soul of the Sangit Kala Kendra Academy, Smt. Rajashreeji Birla. Says Mrs Rajashree Birla,  “Over the last decade, I have been listening to Shri Anup Jalota, Shri Suresh Wadkar, Smt Anuradha Paudwal and others. Their intense spiritual expression, not only moves you to a transcendental level of consciousness, but I could also feel a kind of positive energy, through the Bhajans. As a music lover, I have witnessed several karokes. And I thought it would be worthwhile to render spiritual songs into the karoke mode.  I was thinking of the pujas, that we do on various occasions, and mantras such as the Gayathri Mantra, the Lakshmi Mantra and the beautiful Bhajans even in films. So I spoke with Durgaji who was visibly excited to take the project forward. And thus was born “Divya Jyoti” with a repertoire of devotional songs. The whole project is so innovative, so out of the box, that it  cuts across generations. I must also add, that the wordings of all these Bhajans, and songs, have so much of meaning, that even as lyrics, they get into your sub conscious. I was happy to see the entire project strung in, with a fusion of modernity with tradition.”

The event was unique in nature with the culmination of the finals of the Divya Jyoti Bhajan Karaoke auditions, held earlier this month across Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad and Kolkata. The Top 12 finalists performed on their favourite tracks from the album in front of Chief Guest, Sonu Nigam, who reciprocated with a performance of his own, and celebrity judge, Anup Jalota and the legendary Padma Vibhushan Sangeet Martand Pandit Jasraj. The event was hosted by Durga Jasraj , whose company Art and Artistes has produced the DVD album. Members and luminaries of the Sangit Kala Kendra also participated in the decision making process via voting meters. Three winners of the Divya Jyoti Bhajan Karoke final competition took home a total cash prize of Rs.51,000/-

Sonu Nigam fondly recollected his early days as a Bhajan singer and emphatically stated the Anup Jalota was his biggest inspiration for Bhajans. He even regaled the audience with his own rendition of an Anup Jalota Bhajan and was soon joined by the Bhajan Samrat.  Anup Jalota observed that the competition was very keenly contested and that it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience for him to judge such a unique competition that saw participation from a ten year old child to middle aged men and women.  Manisha Ojha was declared winner of this first ever Bhajan Karoke Competition and she took home a cash prize of Rs.25,000/-. There was a tie for the second and third spots which was a clear reflection of the stiff level of competition. 

The other notable feature of this initiative is the active participation of the Birla family. Among the 50 tracks featured on the album, `Thumak Chalat Ramchandra’has been sung by Vasavadutta Bajaj (daughter of Smt. Rajashree Birla), `Gayatri Mantra’ and `Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiya’ has been sung by Aryaman Vikram Birla (son of Shri Kumarmanglam Birla), `Hum Ko Man Ki Shakti Dena’ has been sung by Anandmayi Bajaj (daughter of Vasavadutta Bajaj) and `Payoji Maine’ has been sung by Advaitesha Birla (daughter of Shri Kumarmangalam Birla).

Sangit Kala Kendra (SKK) was founded in 1973 by Late Shri Aditya Vikram Birla to encourage and nurture the various performing arts.
The objective of Sangit Kala Kendra is contained in the line 'Entertainment and Enlightenment through the Arts', which expresses the essence of the aim that Sangit Kala Kendra aspires to achieve. Bringing the finest quality of entertainment and presenting premier artists has been a trademark of the organization since its inception. In fact, in its first year (1973), Sangit Kala Kendra held programs of Mukesh, Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia, Pt. Shivkumar Sharma and Jagjit and Chitra Singh; and continues the tradition to date. Hosting almost 18 programs a year, the Sangit Kala Kendra's spectrum of entertainment is wide, encompassing drama, classical music and dance, light music and folk dances, kavi sammelans, cooking demonstrations and car treasure hunts. Since its inception the Kendra has been presenting prestigious art events and thereby has acquired recognition as one of the premier cultural institution of the country.