Composing Life with Sacred Sounds

The true role of music is in the composition of life itself. At this level, it is the art of listening to reality and directing its expression in one’s own experience, for happiness, health, prosperity and fulfilment. The sound of emotion is the raw material of life’s music, and 500 years ago a master of this art, Guru Nanak, found a key to it in the Indian raag system. 

Guru Nanak broke the bond between spiritual reality and religion, teaching people from all backgrounds and simply calling them Sikhs, meaning students. The intention was not to create a religion, and it was only centuries later that the institution of ‘Sikhism’ began.

Raj Academy follows the path of practical wisdom revealed by Guru Nanak, enabling people from any walk of life to attain wellbeing and success through this conscious application of sound, which is called Naad Yoga, Sikh music or Gurmat Sangeet in different contexts. We teach across the world, including the UK, Germany, Spain, France, USA and Canada. 

Please explore our website to find out more about the many ways you can take part in our activities. We share this valuable teaching for the benefit of all, with no expectation of existing skill, to allow the composition of as many beautiful lives as possible into the future.

Sikh Musical Heritage - The Untold Story

Building a bridge from past to present: the growth, demise and revival of Sikh Musical Heritage

Sikh music has suffered many tragedies over the past 100 years. However most of what has happened is generally unknown. This documentary aims to tell the untold story through fact, evidence and history.

We will reveal extensive academic and community-based research carried out over the past few years – research that uncovers what Kirtan is and why Guru Nanak Dev ji used it as a means of communication. We recognise that there is an urgent need for education to focus on the Sikh way of life as practised during the time of the Gurus.

We aim to let factual evidence provide an unbiased record of a few key episodes that bring to light aspects lost from Sikh musical heritage through British influence in the 18th and 19th centuries – losses that have been overlooked and forgotten. 

Although the names of Sikh string and percussion instruments such as Dilruba, Saranda, Rabab, Sarangi, Taus, Jori and Pakhawaj are known, there is often no access to their contextual importance nor the reason for their disappearance from society. We wish to answer these questions for a wider audience so that as a community, we can better understand one of the most vital elements of Sikh history and its connection to our practice of Sikhi today.

Find out more about the documentary. We are grateful for all support.