Malini Yugendran
Auckland, November 5, 2022
The Agnikana Group performing at Fickling Convention Centre, Auckland on November 4, 2022 (INL Photo)
The Agnikana Group to perform in Taupo (Nov 6) and Wellington (Nov 7)
It was a very special evening last night (November 4, 2022) at the Fickling Convention Centre at Three Kings in Auckland, as members of the Agnikana Group from the Czech Republic rendered peaceful mantric-like compositions of Sri Chinmoy.
Organised by Sri Chinmoy Centre, the free concert, featuring an all-women’s vocal and instrumental ensemble. The members performed a repertoire selected from the late Indian composer Sri Chinmoy’s thousands of meditation pieces.
Yearning for inner serenity
The pursuit of happiness, the deeper spiritual goals that underpin human life, and the yearning for inner serenity are the topics of their mantric-style music.
The musicians played the Harmonium, Guitar, Flute, Udu, and Dulcimer, and sang pitch perfectly to create an environment of serenity.
The Udu is a plosive instrument that forms a part of an ensemble (INL Photo)
Agnikana Senkyrova, a Zlin artist, created the ensemble in 1997, and their music has been characterised as beautiful and ethereal, combining angelic voices with acoustic instrumental arrangements. In the 25 years that they have been together, Agnikana’s group has released four CDs and has performed more than 500 hundred concerts worldwide, and always free.
The members who performed yesterday included a mother-daughter duo who shared with Indian Newslink the joy that they experience while imparting the power of the heart as opposed to the heart yearning for power. The women said that they love the saree and that they have four performance sarees and each one of them owns about 50 sarees.
The Dulcimer is a stringed musical instrument in which the strings are beaten with small hammers, not plucked (INL Photo)
“We are not human beings looking for a spiritual experience but a spiritual being having a human experience,” they said.
Agnikana has recently finished performing in Europe and Australia and will be performing tomorrow (November 6, 2022) in Taupo’s Rotary Hall and on November 7, 2022, at St Christophers Church, Wellington (both days at 7 pm).
The 75-minute concerts are a part of Agnikana’s second tour to Aotearoa New Zealand.
About Sri Chinmoy
Sri Chinmoy is a spiritual teacher, poet, author and artist.
He was the youngest of seven children, born to railway inspector Shashi Kumar Ghose and Yogamaya Ghose. When Chinmoy was 11, his father died; a year later, his mother died, and the young Chinmoy moved to South India to join several family members at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram.
He spent the next two decades immersing himself in the dynamic culture of ashram life.
He was a talented athlete who excelled as a sprinter and decathlete and also has to his credit many literary works. He acquired a deep passion for meditation and would meditate up to fourteen hours a day.
Sri Chinmoy moved to the West on April 13, 1964, at the age of 32, to spread the teachings of Indian scriptures and sacred books.
Although a devout Hindu, he respected all religions and spiritual approaches.
In 1993 and 2004, Sri Chinmoy led the opening meditation at the Parliament of the World’s Religions, the world’s largest gathering of spiritual and religious leaders and organisations.
Sri Chinmoy Centres have been created in over 400 cities in over 70 nations to promote global harmony via sports, cultural, and musical efforts. As with many spiritual organisations, Sri Chinmoy has established guidelines and standards for its meditation centres. He asks that those who follow him be vegetarians and abstain from alcohol, drugs, and smoking. His followers meditate daily and meet once or twice a week for group sessions.
Sri Chinmoy advocated several interfaith initiatives to promote religious harmony and kindness, including weekly silent non-denominational meditations with UN officials, staff members, and ambassadors.
Meditation Classes
Sri Chinmoy Centre offers free meditation classes with concerts, sports events and humanitarian aid programmes. Their upcoming course includes the ‘Seven Secrets of Meditation’ series, an in-depth look at the key steps and insights essential to a successful home practice.
For current and upcoming free meditation courses, please visit:
Auckland: www.meditationauckland.co.nz; Email: jogyata@slingshot.co.nz
Wellington: www.wellingtonmeditation.org Email: soraya.sewambar@gmail.com
Taupō: Lorrainetepunga@gmail.com
Malini Yugendran is an Indian Newslink Reporter based in Auckland.
