Imagine a choir of 14,000 tribal children from Odisha coming together with the living legends of Indian classical musicians to create a new version of the Indian national anthem. Yes, you read that right. Pop music composer and three-time Grammy winner Ricky Kej, in collaboration with the prestigious Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) from Odisha, has set a new Guinness World Record for the ‘largest singing lesson’ of the Indian national anthem.
At the launch of the new version of the national anthem at a city hotel in Kolkata on Sunday, both Kej and Dr Achyuta Samanta, founder of Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT University) and KISS, announced that the recording would be released worldwide at 5 pm on August 14. The recording features names of Indian music legends like legendary flautist Pandit Hariprasad Chaurasia, Grammy award winner Rakesh Chaurasia, santoor maestro Rahul Sharma, sarod virtuosos Amaan and Ayaan Ali Bangash, nadaswaram couple Sheikh Mahaboob Subhani and his wife Kaleeshabi Mahaboob, veena legend Dr Jayanthi Kumaresh, renowned Carnatic percussionist Giridhar Udupa and of course Kej.
This epic arrangement and collaboration event was only possible with the support of Dr. Samanta. “Ricky Kej has created history. The new version of the National Anthem involves the most renowned Indian musicians and 14,000 tribal students of KISS. We have set a new Guinness World Record for the largest singing lesson, which was previously held by Sweet Adelines International of Nashville, USA with 6,651 participants. After introducing the new version of the National Anthem in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Bhubaneswar, we have now come to Kolkata. The City of Joy has a special significance as Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore hails from this land. Hence, we feel very special in Kolkata and can introduce the song here,” said Dr. Samanta, the founder of KISS, where 80,000 tribal children live (40,000 current students and 40,000 alumni).
The renowned educationist and philanthropist also told Millennium Post that Kej has been associated with KISS and KIIT for quite some time. “Ricky Kej is so talented and I asked him to create a new version of the Indian National Anthem with our KISS students. We arranged everything and it was a herculean task. The students rehearsed for three days and on the fourth day, July 4, we recorded the song. I am so happy that on the eve of Independence Day, we will be releasing the new version of the Indian National Anthem globally on all streaming platforms,” said Dr. Samanta.
Interestingly, the video also shows the 14,000 KISS students forming a human map of India and the word ‘Bharat’ in Hindi and English. This feat symbolizes the unity and diversity of India and showcases the country’s rich cultural heritage and the limitless potential of the youth.
To share this historic achievement, the entire recording is made available completely royalty-free for any purpose, provided the content is completely unedited and unadulterated to ensure no disrespect is given to the Indian National Anthem. Individual versions of the recording, featuring each maestro performing the anthem from start to finish, will be released after August 15, so that the public can have access to individual recordings of their favorite artists.
“In 2023, I conducted the largest symphony orchestra (100-member Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, UK) to perform the Indian National Anthem. This year, I was able to get some of my absolute favorite musicians from India to perform. And then there were 14,000 students from KISS for this performance. I have been associated with KISS for some time and am very inspired by how Dr. Samanta teaches, feeds and mentors 40,000 tribal students at any given time. I have interacted with the tribal students many times. So we decided to collaborate and recorded with 14,000 children and even set a new ‘Guinness World Record’,” said Kej, the internationally known music composer and environmentalist.
And there’s more for tech enthusiasts. Kej has collaborated with renowned VR filmmaker Sairam Sagiraju and developers Krishnaprasad Jagadish and Raksha Rao to create a virtual reality version of this project. Now you can immerse yourself in a VR experience of the Indian national anthem.
Rishi Nath, the official adjudicator of Guinness World Records, confirmed the new record. “What we achieved in Bhubaneswar was a phenomenal 13,944 participants in the ‘Greatest Singing Lesson’. Congratulations to the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Ricky Kej and of course Professor Samanta.”
New record
– The new version of the Indian national anthem features legendary Indian musicians and 14,000 tribal students from KISS
– Guinness World Record set for the “largest singing lesson”
– 14,000 KISS students create a human map of India
– The recording will be released worldwide on August 14th at 5pm.
