Sri Karunamayee, vocals. A rt and Religion have had a tempestuous relationship in both the East and the West. In the West, devout materialists who would never worship God hold artistic geniuses like Beethoven and Picasso in reverent awe, paying millions of dollars for original manuscripts and paintings because they once touched the hands of the master. The devoutly religious, in contrast, often ban music and dancing, or permit music in church services only if it enhances, and does not distract us from, the word of God. In India, the relationship between art and religion is seen as more deeply symbiotic.
Music is seen as a kind of yoga, and the musician as a holy saint.
And yet sometimes this symbiosis can have a dynamic that looks like conflict. There are musicians who are saints, and saints who are musicians, and it is often not easy to tell which is which. A great saint can produce powerful bliss in his disciples by playing mediocre music, and they will call him a great musician. A spoiled selfish artist can produce powerful bliss in his audiences by playing great music, and they will call him a great saint. And of course, most musician-saints fall somewhere between the two extremes.