“Ganesh is the god of money, of fortune, of the world’s wealth”

The Mother

AuroBharati, Sri Aurobindo Society, Puducherry organized ‘Ganesha Vandana- a concert on Hindustani classical music’ at Matriniketan on 23rd September 2023. 

In the beginning, Dr. Kishor Kumar Tripathy, Member Secretary, AuroBharati, Sri Aurobindo Society said that Lord Ganesha has a special position in Hindu Mythology. He is one of the most popular Gods, who is worshipped beyond the differences of castes and sects. He mentioned about the vision of Maharshi Aurobindo 

“Ganesha is the Power that removes obstacles by the force of Knowledge…” and “Ganesha (among other things) is the Devata of spiritual Knowledge.” The Mother has also said that ‘Ganesh is the god of money, of fortune, of the world’s wealth.’ He explained beautiful stories from the scriptures including experience of the Mother on Ganesha.

On this occasion, Dr. Radhika Joshi performed composition ‘Ganesh Vandana’ representing the spirit of Hindustani Classical Music. She also recited beautiful compositions in different languages including Kannada, Marathi and Hindi. Dr. Radhika Joshi, Indian classical vocalist of the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. Radhika Joshi is a promising Hindustani classical vocalist of the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. She is a disciple of Pt. Raghunandan Panshikar, a renowned vocalist and disciple of Gaansaraswati Kishori Amonkar. Radhika has also had the privilege of studying semi-classical forms of music such as Thurmi, Kajri, Hori, Dadra from Padmabhushan Smt. GirijaDevi at the Sangeet Research Academy, Kolkata.

She is a recipient of the National Scholarship for Performing Arts awarded by the Government of India and is a graded artist of the All-India Radio. Radhika is also the founder of Jaipur Gunijankhana, an archive in Pune that strives to document and preserve Hindustani music, with a focus on the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. She has been awarded the Museum and Research Fellowship by the India Foundation for the Arts, Bangalore to further her research in the gayaki of the Jaipur Atrauli Gharana. In additional to her achievements in music, Radhika holds a master’s in economics from Tufts University, Boston and a PhD in Economics from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore but has now decided to pursue a full-time career in music.