Transforming Spaces : The Power of Indian Classical Music

I adore that Indian Classical Music is a form of worship, the interconnectedness between Hinduism and Islam, the beautiful melodies and various ragas, has to power to transform and unite, but most of all it’s the way to reach the divine, who is LOVE!

appreciation, art, california, classical traditions, compassion, cross cultures, culture, cultures, desi american, diversity, educate, education, faith, friendship, global, global cultures, hindu, hindu temple, hinduism, history, impact, hometown, holiday, inspiration, indian american, interfaith, islam, language, languages, love, music, my story, nyc, oneness, prayer, reflections, religion, religions, spiritual activism, spirituality, tamil, tamil american, tamil nadu, temple, unityindiversity, unitysangeetha kowsikOctober 31, 2022music, musician, musicians, classical, classical music, inclusivity, indian, southindian, south india, tamil nadu, tamil, tamilnadu, tamil culture, tamilamerican, tamils, hinduism, hindustani, carnatic, Karnatic, raga, ragam, melody, temple, temples, hindu, hindu temple, hinduarchitecture, temple worship, worship, faith, international, interconnectedness, interfaith, islam, sarod, sarswati, sound, sounds, transformative, transform, bhakti, devotion, spiritual, spirituality, inspiration, sangeetha, sangeetham, sanathanadharma, sanatana dharma, vishnu, saraswati, tradition, traditions, ancient, ancient cultures, ancient traditions, contemporary, amir khusro, purandardasa, saint, ganapati, ganesha, ganesh, deepavali, diwali, festival, high holiday, holiday, ritual, rituals, practice, riyaaz, riyaz, lineage, spirtiuality, friendship, love, unity, unityindiversity, community, comm, history, educate, education, educateyourself, yoga, meditation, appreciation, creatives, creative, mughal, court, king, dynasty, family, cultures, culture, crosscultural, cultural diversity, south indian, bengal, bengali, indian arts, india, north india, southasia, asia, sufi islam, sufi, sufism, heritage, sacred, puja, prayer, mystory, story, experience, my experiences, my truth, truth, samaveda, veda

A Muslim Musician wrote a MANTRAM!

A mantram can be repetitive (but doesn’t have to be) and is used for meditation, prayer, and maybe even to set your intentions/goals. For me, Alam Khan’s album Mantram is a true spiritual/religious experience. I LOVE every single track and I am in tears by the end of it, but happy tears because I’ve seen my beloved Lord. It reminds us that no matter how much crap and emotional turmoil we’ve all gone through in life, HOPE & LOVE is what wins at the end.

appreciation, art, california, change in thinking, change, classical traditions, compassion, cross cultures, culture, cultures, education, educate, diversity, design, desi american, friendship, faith, global, global cultures, hindu, hindu temple, hinduism, history, hometown, impact, inspiration, interfaith, inclusion, indian american, islam, love, museum, my story, oneness, nyc, new york, reflections, religion, religions, spirituality, spiritual activism, south asia, tamil, travel, unique, unity, unityindiversitysangeetha kowsikOctober 1, 2022hindu, hindustani, hinduism, music, musician, musicians, islam, mantra, mantram, new music, classical music, indian classical dance, dharma, sanatana dharma, indian arts, india, indian, sarod, composer, community, unity, unique, unityindiversity, south asia, southasia, south indian, southindian, south india, temple, worship, aliakbarkhan, temples, hindu temple, cali, california, mystory, ritual, spiritual, spirituality, inspiration, friendship, muslims, muslim, ohm, japa, homam, designer, artist, creative, creatives, crosscultural, faith, belief, hope, love, compassion, shiva, vishnu, practice, prayer, sanskrit, sanathanadharma, sanathana

Interconnectedness, Hate, Love, & Ahimsa (Non Violence)

As a lifelong practicing Hindu who adheres to the principle of Ahimsa, which means “nonviolence” meaning not to harm any living creature with your words, thoughts, or physically.

it boggles my mind that the 3 great Abrahamic faiths of the world Christianity, Judaism, and Islam lived in relative peace and unity, and gave the world beautiful art, architecture, and an interconnected culture before someone drank CUCKOO juice, and decided to fill their minds/hearts/brains/souls with hatred and expelled Jews and Muslims, which led to the bloody Spanish inquisition of 1492!

These are my reflections of the interconnectedness, unity, inspiration, and beauty, I saw through religion, faith, culture, and art.

activism, activist, appreciation, art, artwork, change, change in thinking, classical traditions, create the change, cross cultures, culture, cultures, design, diversity, distinctive, faith, friendship, global, global cultures, graphic design, hindu, hinduism, history, impact, inclusion, holiday, inspiration, interfaith, islam, language, languages, museum, my story, music, oneness, painting, religion, religions, prayer, south asia, spiritual activism, spirituality, travel, unique, unity, unityindiversity, travel diaries, reflections, world religions, islamic art, racism, Islamophobia, anti semitism, love, compassion, new york, nycsangeetha kowsikAugust 31, 2022art history, art, design, designs, designer, history, museum, the metropolitan museum of art, truth, hate, love, compassion, islam, islamicarchitecture, architecture, reli, faith, interfaith, islamic, judaism, jew, jewish, christian, christianity, fatima, prophet, spain, spiritual, spirituality, inspiration, portugal, heart, one love, true love, mystory, my truth, jesus, interconnectedness, international, unity, unityindiversity, community, communities, travel, travelling, instatravel, travel blogger, travels, granada, cordoba, castle, seville, allhambra, pilgramage, typography, stereotypes, gratitude, activist, activism, racism, change, bethechange, connected, colonization, culture, crosscultural, cultural diversity, cultures, ancient traditions, tradition, traditions, world, oneness, one world, oneneww, global, global culture, global cultures, antisemitism, phobia, hatred, peace, understanding, educate, education, educateyourself, blog, blogger, non violence, ahimsa, gandhi, india, dharma, sanatana dharma, sanskrit, southasia, southasian, southasianartist, southasianart, south aisa, south asia, south indian, south india, together, unique, ancient cultures, beauty, shrine, prayer, worship, pattern, repeat pattern, islamicart, islamic art, islamic pattern, andorra, iberian, Iberian Penninsula, spanish, sephardicComment

Hindu/Religious VS. Spiritual/Dharmic/Vedic - Gym, Puja, Design

Since when did the word “RELIGION” or “RELIGIOUS” start to freak people out? It boggles my mind.

If a Muslim says they are religious they are immediately branded as a “Terrorist”, If a Christian says they are religious they are immediately branded as a “Bible-thumping, right-wing, Trump lover”
If a Hindu says they are religious they are immediately branded as a “Cow piss drinking, right-wing, Modi lover”

Becoming Chaplain was the first time I ever spoke up about “Being Hindu”. It was never an identifying mark for me, not something I went around proclaiming, I’ve always lived my faith, I just WAS, Gym, Puja, Design, every single day!

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Brooklyn Museum Popup - My Customers are so DIVERSE! Grateful!

The world says “to define my customer base” Well I find that really difficult for me! My customers that day included Japanese Grandmas, Latino Boys, Young African American Gay Men, Hipsters, Hindu folks, Muslim folks, Arab families, Turkish families, and many more! My work appeals to a wide range of races, nationalities, ages, demographics, etc. I believe that art and design are the way to bring together diverse communities.

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Art for the Love of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) - Tanjore Painting meets Islamic Patterns

For hundreds of years Tamil poets have composed devotional poems adopting the voice of a mother, addressing praises to an extraordinary child. Called pillaittamil ( "Tamil for a child”), major genre of Tamil literature.” Muslim poets used the genre, to praise the Prophet (PBUH), members of his family, and various walis (“friends of God”) who’s tombs are revered in Tamil Nadu.

My design incorporates Tamil script, Tanjore (Traditional Classical style of South Indian (Tamil) painting), traditional Islamic patterns in the background/cradle, & cradle (the poem states “so I can place you in the cradle, and rock you happily, come joyously. Muhammad, who has the truth, come joyously, come”)

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Arabic Ganesha Chaturthi

EVERYBODY LOVES GANESHA! I have many Muslim/non Hindu friends who love Ganesha. Musicians who travel with a small statue, Arabs girls who find him adorable, Yoga practitioners etc. His image is found across the world (Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, archeological evidence even shows ancient South America!) 🌏

His image is on Indonesian currency (a predominately Muslim nation) ☪️

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#blacklivesmatter. One World. Be the Change.

All FAITHS (symbols of every major faith). ONE WORLD. WE Together stand against racism!

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Maha Shivaratri : Lord Shiva & Arabic

God Sees all, even if you can't see him, he sees you!

diversity, classical traditions, cross cultures, faith, global, global cultures, hinduism, history, holiday, inspiration, islam, music, oneness, religion, travel, unity, childhoodsangeetha kowsikMay 4, 2020shiva, shakti, ohm, om, hindu, hinduism, faith, india, indian, southasia, southasianart, southasianartist, south asia, intense, sanatana dharma, love, temple, bhakti, devotion, design, designs, designer, art, artwork, artist, earth, heart, fortheculture, interconnectedness, connected, connect, crosscultural, culture, ancient cultures, global culture, global, spiritual, spirituality, god, ishwar, parameshwara, king, abhishekam, hindu temple, dancer, cosmic dancer, yoga, veda, scripture, flower, flowers, true love, bhajan, bhajans, music, lord, beauty, beautiful, healer, doctor, teacher, guru, master, compassion, knowledge, learn, educate, cycle, break stereotypes, oneness, fight, happine, holiday, holy month, phase, moon, chandra, puja, pooja, poojas, mighty, mankind, savior, one, one world, concept, conceptualart, conceptual, corvid, covid virus, virus, corona, corona virus, neelakanta, neel, blue, favorite, ishta devam, deva, devam, ruler, ruling, ruler of my heart, my everything, everything, jai, hara, hara har, mahadev, shankar, shankara, shiva rathri, rathri, night, shivas night, shiva night, bhang, sufi, sufi islam, islam, islamicart, history, islamic art, unique, my story, story, bhagavan, hadith, prophet, ihsan, ishan

Ram Navami (Hindu Holiday) : in Arabic Language

Rama in Sanskrit means "one who gives joy to others/divinely blissful / the noble one"
Karim in Arabic means "generous/noble, one of the 99 names of Allah"

design, cross cultures, diversity, childhood, faith, global, global cultures, hinduism, islam, inspiration, religion, travel, unity, oneness, history, holidaysangeetha kowsikApril 11, 2020hindu, hinduism, rama, ramanavami, ram navami, kabir, kabir das, allah, 99 names, karim, compassion, mankind, corvid, corvid virus, virus, heart, arrow, arabic, arabic calligraphy, race, nationality, india, ramayana, lord rama, vishnu, king, righteousness, right, dharma, islam, islamic art, islamic, sikh, guru, guru granth sahib, sikhism, bhajans, bhajan, song, sanskrit, sanatana dharma, blue, gradient, light, noor, world, global, global culture, culture, creative, crosscultural, ancient, ancient cultures, history, hari, god, divine, planet, love, nobel, noble, blissful, generous, kindness, designs, designer, artwork, artist, southasian, southasia, south asia, southasianart, endless, prayer, dua, puja, pooja

Ali Akbar Khan + Goddess Saraswati + Shiva Vishnu Temple = Bay Area, California

All Indian Classical Music and Dance traditions are rooted in worship and are ways to connect to the divine. The father of Hindustani music was a Muslim, the 13th C Sufi poet/musician/scholar Amir Khusrow. The father of Carnatic music was a Hindu, the 16th C saint/poet Purandara Dasa.