Raagalayam – an insight into Raaga, Laya and Thala, A school of Indian Carnatic Music & Instrument, was founded in Minneapolis, USA in 1999 by its Director Guru – Rajashree Rao.
The institute currently operates in Eden Prairie, USA. Raagalayam has been serving the sacred Carnatic music by imparting this knowledge through the oldest string instrument – veena in its pristine purity.
We thrive to make the experience of learning the ancient musical instrument VEENA & through that the Carnatic music enjoyable, pleasant and relaxing for the students. With this objective we tailor the learning process to meet each individual students need. Classes are taken in traditional “gurukula” method.
ABOUT VEENA (From Wikipedia)
Veena is a plucked string instrument originating in ancient India, used mainly in Indian classical music. It derives its distinctive timbre and resonance from sympathetic strings, bridge design, a long hollow neck and a gourd resonating chamber. The earliest veena was an instrument of the harp type whose type survives in the Burmese harp, whereas in the last centuries and nowadays, the word has tended to be applied to instruments of the lute type or even, recently, to certain kinds of guitars developed in India. The more popular sitar is believed to have been derived from the veena, an ancient Indian instrument, which was modified by a Mughal court musician to conform with the tastes of his Persian patrons and named after a Persian instrument called the setar (meaning “three strings”). It subsequently underwent many changes, and the modern sitar evolved in 18th century India. A person who plays a veena is called a vainika.
Raagalayam Veena Academy 