History

Chhandayan was born in 1984 in Calcutta, India; our main activity was to promote young talent, giving opportunities to perform on public platforms together with outstanding veterans. This mission was fulfilled through quarterly sessions of small concerts culminating in an annual festival at a bigger venue with audiences ranging from 1,000 to 3,000. In 1998 Chhandayan was re-established in the USA as a not-for-profit organization, first operating in the state of New York as a small organization limited to classes and occasional concerts. Soon after that, we expanded to neighboring states which including New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida. The gradual popularity of Chhandayan classes, resulted in rapid increase of students, locations and faculty.

Today Chhandayan has a running number of students ranging from 250-300 in our regular classes, and many advanced students around the world. The annual workshops and seminars draw in at least another 100 students from all over North America. Our concert series started drawing in more audience which led us to bigger venues. The popularity demanded that we present more often and in more locations and the reason behind the popularity is primarily the quality that we have maintained. 

Until 2019 for twenty years Chhandayan hosted All-Night concerts in Manhattan, in the traditional manner, every year on the second Saturday of May. The event is now continuing in September This event has grown to be a global event, drawing people in not only from North America but South America and Europe as well. Thousands of people have been enthralled and elevated by the sublime quality of music from the heart and soul of the greatest maestros from the world of Indian classical music. The musicians, while onstage, have always wondered about the miracle of drawing the type of audience that they find with us. The audience clearly has acknowledged these concerts to be a very special experience which they don’t get anywhere else. It is the purity, the unassuming grandeur, and the incomparable level of competence that singles out Chhandayan one of the most significant organizations promoting Indian music in North America.