Title: Gana- Bajana: Music of Hindu Gods
Written and illustrated by: Devdutt Pattanaik
Published by: Puffin Books (Penguin Random House)
Type: Board book
Length: 22 pages
Recommended Age Group: 4-8 years
Acclaimed mythological author, Devdutt Pattanaik comes up with a fantastic book to introduce young ones to mythology and music as we trace the story of swar, sur and sangeet.
Gana-Bajana has easy to read text and vibrant illustrations as it introduces various Indian musical instruments.
The book opens with Lord Vishnu majestically arising from the ocean breaking the silence in the world with his conch (or shankh). The sangeet story progresses systematically as we learn how instruments were created. The mythology maestro also introduces us to various Hindu Gods and Goddesses and their favoured musical instruments (Hindustani and Carnatic ones).
Siddhanth, my 4 year old who enjoys music and mythology in equal measure was over the moon to see his interests being married into this fantastic board book. He was happy to recall the more commonly known associations of that Shiva playing the damru (drums) and Krishna playing the bansuri (flute). He was intrigued to learn that Ravana (the infamous asura, who was a highly skilled musician and composer) played the (Rudra) veena!
The tale of taal reaches a crescendo with an introduction to the origins of each swar. You will be amazed to learn how each swar originated and therein, lies the beauty of Indian music. The story effortlessly moves to how the swars progressed to raag(melodies) and sangeet(songs) and eventually the musical universe came about.
Another wonderful feature is how the Vedic origin of music is explained in such lucid terms that even a toddler could comprehend and appreciate it.
We absolutely loved this book and would recommend you grab it! It will have you reading it over and over again like a musical encore!
If this review is music to your ears, you might want order the book from Amazon (kbc affiliate link),
CLICK & BUY NOW!Disclaimer: Sowmya is a part of the #kbcReviewerSquad and received this book as a review copy from the publisher via kbc.
