Genius of Aruna Sairam | Kalinga Nartana Tillana | Krishna’s Serpent Dance | Music of India

#darbarfestival | An extraordinary vocal recreation of Lord Krishna’s mythical battle with Kaliya, the fearsome five-headed snake who boiled the waters of the Yamuna River around them. Learn more about the music: Kalinga Nartana Tillana is Aruna Sairam’s vocal rendition of Lord Krishna’s mythical battle with Kaliya, the fearsome five-headed snake who boiled the waters of the Yamuna River around him as they fought. It is based on a 6th century composition by Oothukkadu Venkata Subba Iyer, complete with rhythmic vocalisations to describe Krishna’s battle dance, and the hissing sounds of the snake. The music is set to the pentatonic Raga Gambhiranata, in the 8-beat Adi Tala. Aruna Sairam’s voice brings a husky authority to modern Carnatic music. She first learnt to sing by listening to her mother and is part of a long line of female musicians. The direct teaching lineage stretches back over 200 years, to the singers and dancers of the Tamil court. She is an exponent of ‘pure’ Carnatic singing bu