Es wird angenommen, dass indische Ragas eine natürliche Existenz haben.
Einige Hindus betrachten sogar die Musik selbst als Mittel zur Erleuchtung. 
Während des 20. Jahrhunderts zog der Subkontinent viele Avantgarde-Künstler 
und Musiker der Gegenkultur an, insbesondere aus den USA, Europa und Japan 
– die meisten von ihnen auf der Suche nach Antworten auf spirituelle Bedürfnisse 
oder mit dem Wunsch, etwas zurückzulassen.

56-Minuten-Mix mit Alice Coltrane, Coil mit Lori Carson, Psycho Baba, Sun Ra And His Arkestra und anderen.

Tracklist:

- Sun Ra And His Arkestra – India

mystic rhythms in an ancient exotica style (1956, El Saturn Records / Re: Sun Ra LLC)

- Alice Coltrane – Sita Ram

recorded in Alice Coltrane’s hometown New York City after a trip to India, the multi-instrumentalist articulates her spirituality with the album Universal Consciousness; a year later she’d convert to Hinduism (1971, Impulse!)

- Angus MacLise, Tony Conrad, Jack Smith – S.O.S.

haunting tambura drone piece from one of the many sessions the three New York City based avantgarde artists recorded between 1964 and ’68 (ca. 1968, Boo-Hooray)

- Bill Laswell, Coil, Janet Rienstra, Lori Carson – Kála

Coil’s music is enhanced with Bill Laswell’s field-recordings from India’s spiritual capital Varanasi and Lori Carson‘s vocals (1997, Sub Rosa)

- Psychedelic Sex Kicks (OST) – Like, Preview Time

sitars and tablas are omnipresent in the US counter culture of the sixties, like in the low budget film Psychedelic Sex Kicks about San Francisco’s free love and drug crazed hippie underground (1967, Modern Harmonic)

- Deuter – Soham

the self taught German musician combines acoustic and electronic elements with ethnic instrumentation and nature sounds (1972, Kuckuck)

- The Residents – Om Is Where the Art Is

from the group’s first demo tape, mailed anonymously to Warner Brothers – and rejected for not being commercially viable (1971, New Ralph Too)

- Psycho Baba – Tablovedubla (exc.)

between 1999 and 2003, the Japanese group around drummer and jill-of-all-trades Yoshimi (OOIOO, Boredoms, …) and sitar player Yoshidadaikiti are exploring Indian musical traditions (1999, Japan Overseas)