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==Introduction==
[[Image:ramana.jpg|frame|Ramana Mahrishi as portrayed in a loving oil painting by Jayalakshmi Satyendra]]
''Anjan Chattopadhyay'', Sitar Maestro was born in 1960 in an aristocratic family, in [[Calcutta, India]]. He was brought up in an environment of soft, sweet and serene [[Indian Classical Music]].He was initiated to the art of sitar playing by his elder brother,a veteran surbahar player,Pandit Gourisankar Chattopadhyay,a disciple of Pandit Birendra Kishore RoyChowdhury.In addition to that he started taking his futther training from Surasree Kalyani Roy,a global reputed sitarist and one of the senior disciples of Ustad Vilayat Khan.He also had his lessons on the vocal music from late Shree Muktipada Datta,a representative of kirana Gharana.Anjan also had his fortune of having the training of the welknown Tabla player late Ustad Shaukat Ali Khan of Farukhabad gharana.
== Perfomance ==
Anjan has performed in hundreds of concerts in India and abroad. Among them worthy of mentions are the concerts in
* India, The Dover Lane Music Conference,
* India International Center,
* All India Music Festival,
* Salt Lake Music Conference,
* National Council of Performing Arts,
* West Bangal Government State Music Academy,
* Tansen Music Conference,
* Alliance Francaise,
* Ustad Bahadur Khan Music Conference,
* Swami Haridas Music Conference,
* Shree Aurobindo Ashram. Calcutta,
* Ustad Amir Khan Music Conference. Calcutta,
* Swar Sadhna Samiti. Mumbai.
* Pandit Montu Banerjee memorial music conference,
* Sankalp Music Festival. Sagar, M.P.
* Guru Poornima Festival, Patna,
== Awards, Honors ==
'''''Bhagavan Sri'' Ramana Maharshi''' ([[December 30]], [[1879]] - [[April 14]], [[1950]]) was a great [[Hindu]] mystic of the [[Advaita Vedanta]] stream and is regarded by some as one of the greatest [[saint]]s of [[Hinduism]] in the [[20th century]]. He lived in the sacred [[Tiruvannamalai]] hills near [[Chennai]]. The core of his teachings was the practice of ''atma-vichara'' (self-enquiry).
In his musical career, Anjan has got numerous awards, and felicitations.
The chronology of awards are as follows:
# In 1986, he was awarded the prestigious first prize in All India Music Competition organized by the State Music Academy of West Bengal Government.
# In 1987, he was felicitated with the prestigious title ‘SURMANI’ after performing at Kal-Ke-Kalakar music festival in Mumbai.
# In 1988, he was awarded with the title ‘Sangeet Visharad’ by Pracheen Kalakendra, Chandigarh. In the same year he got ‘Sangeet Kriya Visharad’ title from Sourav Academy Board. On this occasion, the renowned violinist Pandit V.G.Jog felicitated him.
# In 1990, during his tour to U.S.A, the Academy of Indian Music and Fine Arts and UMBC felicitated him with the certificate of Achievement.
# In that year he got the rare opportunity to be honored with the GOVERNOR’S CITATION from the Honorable Governor of New Jersey – Mr Jim Florio.
# In 1994, Padmabhushan Pandit [[Jnanprakash Ghosh]], one of the music legends of India, proclaimed Anjan as ‘one of the most talented young sitar players of India”.
# Swar-Sadhna Samity of Mumbai and Rotary Club of Lake Green Kolkata, honored him after an enthralling performance of him.
# In 2004, Anjan has got the prestigious ‘GOVERNOR’S CITATION’ from the honourable Governor of the State of Maryland after performing his sitar recital in presence of the honourable Senator Mr Paul Sarbane.
[[Ravi_Shankar|Pandit Ravi Shankar]]
[[Vilayat_Khan|Ustad Vilayat Khan]]
==Maharshi's Life==
Ramana Maharshi was born in a village called Tirucculi near [[Madurai]] in southern India. He was given the name Venkataraman. His father died when he was twelve, and he went to live with his uncle in Madurai, where he briefly attended American Mission High School. However, his thoughts soon turned to religion, namely mystic [[Hindu]] philosophies and understandings of universal divinity.
== Source ==
At the age of sixteen, he heard somebody mention "Arunachala." Although he didn't know what the word meant (it's the name of a holy hill associated with the Hindu deity [[Shiva]]) he became greatly excited. At about the same time he came across a copy of Sekkilar's Periyapuranam, a book that describes the lives of [[Shaivite]] saints, and became fascinated by it. In the middle of 1896, at age 16, he was suddenly overcome by the feeling that he was about to die. He lay down on the floor, made his body stiff, and held his breath. "My body is dead now," he said to himself, "but I am still alive." In a flood of spiritual awareness he realized he was spirit, not his body.
* Sankarlal Bhattacherjee, Writer and Journalist, ABP Group, Kolkata, India.
*[http://www.aimrec.com/AnjanChattopadhyay/ Anjan Chattopadhyay Official Website]
==His Teachings==
Ramana Maharshi taught a method called self-inquiry in which the seeker focuses continuous attention on the I-thought in order to find its source. In the beginning this requires effort, but eventually something deeper than the ego takes over and the mind dissolves in the heart center. He is an acknowledged [[Hindu]] master of the [[Advaita Vedanta]] stream of Vedic thought, and has many followers throughout India and abroad.
In a very simple manner he asks us to go back to the source from wherein all thought arises and ask ourself, "To whom is this thought? To whom has this anger arisen?" The answer would be obviously "To me"; after that, you then enquire as to "WHO AM I?". This is done by negating like: I-am-not-the-body, I-am-not-the-food -I-eat, I-am-not-the-brain ....in this way one traces the 'I-Thought' back to the source. The source is what one may call the [[God|GOD]] or the [[Self_(philosophy)|SELF]]. However, to my understanding what Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi says is, "Stay in Silence."
Many western authors, including the American philosopher [[Ken Wilber]], have been influenced by Ramana Maharshi's [[nondual]] thought. [[Paul Brunton]] was another Western author who deeply impressed by Ramana Maharshi.He wrote his experiences of staying at Arunachala in a book called "A Search in Secret India". This was one of the first books to bring Ramana Maharshi to the attention of the Western World. He wrote of Arunachala.
“ I never fail to become gradually aware of the mysterious atmosphere of the place… I enjoy an ineffable tranquillity merely by sitting for a while in the neighbourhood of the Maharishee.”
[http://www.writespirit.net/authors/ramana_maharshi/life_of_ramana_maharshi/ 1]
==External links==
*http://www.ramana-maharshi.org/
*http://www.realization.org/page/topics/ramana.htm
*[http://www.poetseers.org/spiritual_and_devotional_poets/ind/ramana_ma/poems_ramana_maharshi/ Selections of Writings by Ramana Maharshi]
*[http://arunachala.org/ Arunachala Ashrama]
*http://www.satramana.org
* [http://www.onelittleangel.com/wisdom/quotes/ramana_maharshi.asp Ramana Maharshi] Pictures and selected quotes
*http://davidgodman.org
*http://acalayoga.blogspot.com
* [http://www.atmajyoti.org/gi_bhagavad_gita_maharshi.asp Maharshi Gita] Verses from the Gita arranged by Ramana Maharshi to give its essential meaning.
* [http://www.writespirit.net/authors/ramana_maharshi/life_of_ramana_maharshi/ Biography of Ramana Maharshi]
[[Nisargadatta Maharaj]]
==References==
*''The Collected Works of Ramana Maharshi'' edited by Arthur Osborne
*''Be As You Are: The Teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi'' edited by David Godman
*''The Path of Sri Ramana (Parts One and Two)'' by Sri Sadhu Om
{{Hinduism}}
[[Category:1879 births|Ramana Maharshi]]
[[Category:1950 deaths|Ramana Maharshi]]
[[Category:Hindu religious figures]]
[[Category:Indian philosophers]]
[[Category: 20th century philosophers]]
[[de:Ramana Maharshi]]
[[ru:Рамана Махарши]]
[[sa:रामन् महर्षि]]
[[sk:Ramana Mahariši]]
[[sv:Ramana Maharshi]]
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