Antaragni was a fusion band from Bangalore which disbanded in 2004. Antaragni's repertoire included an amalgamation of

Indian Classical Indian classical music is the classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as '' Hindustani'' and the South Indian expression known as '' Carnatic''. These traditions were not ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and Western rock, funk, pop and country. After Antaragni disbanded, the band's frontman, Raghupathy Dixit went on to form The Raghu Dixit Project, which he likes to refer to as an open house for musicians and artistes from different genres to come together, collaborate and create a dynamic sound and expression.

Etymology

The name ''Antaragni'' is a union of two

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

words — ''antar'' meaning 'within' and ''agni'' meaning fire. Put together, they form 'Antar Ki Agni' or 'Antaragni' for short, literally meaning 'the fire within'. The name of the band reflected the passion and zeal of its members for music.

History

Early years

Antaragni, which went on to become one of Bangalore's most popular music acts, was formed sometime in the late 1990s by guitarist/songwriter/singer Raghupathy Dixit. An experimentalist constantly in search of a new sound, Raghu hit it off with talented violin player H.N. Bhaskar. Together the duo formed Antaragni. Armed with a new sound, Raghu and Bhaskar moved base to Bangalore, where they started making waves. They met Ravichandra Rao, a flautist and percussionist of repute, and their music continued to evolve. By concocting a potpourri of Indian classical, folk and western undertones, Antaragni began to rock Bangalore.

Take two

In Bangalore, Raghu met

Manoj George Manoj George is an Indian violinist and a music composer. He performed as the conductor, string arranger, solo violinist and choral arranger of 2 albums : ''Winds of Samsara'', which won the Grammy Award for the Best New Age Album in 2015 and ...

, a violinist trained in western classical music. Together, Raghu,

and Bhaskar started churning out some delightfully refreshing music strongly laced with Indian folk influences. The two violinists trained in different styles added slick musical tussles (known as ''jugalbandi'') to the songs, and it seemed the band had two lead violinists, instead of the conventional lead guitarist. The band's fame continued to grow as it won competitions across the country with a voracious appetite. The most notable being winning the Radio City competition to be crowned the best band in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. Their first major tryst with fame however came when they were invited to open for Bryan Adams when he came to town,The Music Magazine - India's first and finest music e-zine
/ref> before a crowd of 30,000. Antaragni had arrived. Unfortunately, the priorities of Ravi and Bhaskar as professional musicians differed from that of Raghu and they made their silent exits.

Final bow

Raghu and

continued performing with guest artists until they finally disbanded in 2004.

References

External links

The Raghu Dixit Project official website
2009-10-25) {{DEFAULTSORT:Antaragni Indian country musicians Indian folk music groups Indian funk musical groups Indian pop music groups Indian rock music groups Musical groups established in 1998 1998 establishments in Karnataka Pop-folk music groups