Sri Guruvayurappan TempleLondon, United Kingdom

Sanskrit is a classical Indian language. The name Sanskrit means 'refined', 'sacred' and 'sanctified'. Hence, Sanskrit was not thought of as a specific language but as a refined or perfected sacred tongue. It is a language always kept in high esteem and used mostly for religious and scientific discourses in Hinduism. Having emerged many thousands of years back, it has the credit of being one of the oldest existing languages.

The Vedas are perhaps the oldest written text on our planet today. They date back to the beginning of Indian civilization and are the earliest literary records of the whole Indian culture. They were passed through oral tradition and thereafter in written form for over many thousand years. The Vedas are divided into four groups, Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. Each group has an original text - Mantra and a commentary portion - Brahmana. The Brahmana again has two portions, one interpreting ritual and the other the philosophy. The portions interpreting the philosophy of the original texts constitute the Upanishads. There are also auxiliary texts called Vedangas. Vedic literature refers to the whole of this vast group of literature.

Ayurveda, which literally means the science of life, Ayur = Life, Veda = Science, ayurveda is an ancient medical science which was developed in India thousands of years ago. Believed to have been passed on to humans from the Gods themselves, Ayurveda developed and evolved into what it is today from several ancient treatises, most notably Adharva Veda which dates back to five thousand years. The ancient Vedic literature by sages has clearly laid out instructions to maintain health as well as fighting illness through therapies, massages, herbal medicines, diet control and exercise.

Yoga is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India. Yoga is one of the six orthodox schools of Hindu philosophical traditions. There is a broad variety of yoga schools, practices, and goals in Hinduism. The term "yoga" in the Western world often denotes a modern form of Hatha yoga, yoga as exercise, consisting largely of the postures called asanas. Haṭha yoga is a branch of Yoga. The Sanskrit word haṭha literally means "force" and thus alludes to a system of physical techniques. Hatha yoga practice has many elements, both behavioral and of practice. The Hatha yoga texts state that a successful yogi has certain characteristics: utsaha - enthusiasm, fortitude, sahasa - courage, dhairya - patience, jnana tattva - essence for knowledge, nishcaya - resolve, determination and tyaga - solitude, renunciation. In the Indian traditions, it extends well beyond being a sophisticated physical exercise system and integrates ideas of ethics, diet, cleansing, pranayama - breathing exercises, meditation and a system for spiritual development.

Bharatanatyam is a major form of Indian classical dance. It's theoretical foundations trace to the ancient text by Bharata Muni, Natya Shastra. Bharatanatyam is the oldest classical dance tradition of India. Bharatanatyam style is noted for spectacular footwork, a sophisticated vocabulary of sign language based on gestures of hands, eyes and facial expressions. The dance is accompanied by music and songs. The dance has traditionally been a form of an interpretive narration of religious legends and spiritual ideas from the Hindu texts. The performance repertoire of Bharatanatyam, like other classical dances, includes nrita - pure dance, nritya - solo expressive dance and natya - group dramatic dance.

Mohiniyattam is one of the classical dances of India that developed and remained popular in the state of Kerala. Mohiniyattam dance gets its name from the word Mohini – a mythical enchantress avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, who helps the good prevail over evil by developing her feminine powers. Mohiniyattam's roots, like all classical Indian dances, are in the Natya Sastra – the ancient Hindu text on performing arts. However, it follows the Lasya style described in Natya Sastra, that is a dance which is delicate and feminine. It is traditionally a solo dance performed by women after extensive training. The repertoire of Mohiniyattam includes music in the Carnatic style, singing and acting a play through the dance, where the recitation may be either by a separate vocalist or the dancer herself. The song is typically in Malayalam-Sanskrit hybrid language called Manipravalam.

Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with southern India. It is one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu traditions, the other subgenre being Hindustani music. The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in gayaki - singing style. Although there are stylistic differences, the basic elements of sruti - the relative musical pitch, swara - the musical sound of a single note, raga - the mode or melodic formula, and tala - the rhythmic cycles form the foundation of improvisation and composition. Although improvisation plays an important role, Carnatic music is mainly sung through compositions, especially the kriti or kirtanam. Carnatic music is usually performed by a small ensemble of musicians, consisting of a principal performer usually a vocalist, a melodic accompaniment usually a violin, a rhythm accompaniment usually a mridangam, and a tambura, which acts as a drone throughout the performance. Other typical instruments used in performances may include the ghatam, kanjira, morsing, venu flute, veena, and chitraveena.