temple of the sun

 
temple of the sun

resonates with the golden

flute of the traveler

Paul Horn, known as the Traveler, played his flute in the Temple of the Sun at Machu Picchu. He has also played in many sacred spaces around the world, including the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Potala and Mt. Kailash in Tibet, the Great Pyramid at Giza, and with orca whales. It was "Inside" his recording in the Taj Mahal in 1968 that launched the genre of New Age music. Paul was with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in Rishikesh, India, in 1967, at the same time as the Beatles and Donovan, and he became one of Maharishi's first teachers of Transcendental Meditation. This year Paul played in the Golden Dome on the campus of Maharishi University in Fairfield, Iowa. His soulful melodies on a golden flute reverberated in the atmosphere of deep, lively silence that permeates the Golden Dome.

the blind harpist plays

the blind harpist plays 

celestial music above
the noise of travelers

From the bus parking lot at Ollantaytambo, it's a long, gradual descent by foot to the train station to wait for the train to Aguas Calientes. Near the bottom of the hill the path makes a turn to the left and there is a little stall where an elderly woman is selling bottled water, dried corn and various snacks. Her son sits to one side of the counter, plucking and strumming his harp. Although blind, he is wearing a colorful red bandana and blue checked shirt. His sensitive ears must hear the travelers hauling their bags past him, but he seems to be playing more to himself than to any earthbound creatures.

the blind musician

the blind musician

patiently plays his flute for

an empty white cup

This blind musician was sitting on a busy street in Puno with people rushing by, completely ignoring him. He was playing such soulful music, so I stopped to listen and put a coin in his white cup. He stopped playing to scoop up the coin and pocket it. I wanted to hear more, so with my limited Spanish I asked, "Musica, por favor." And he immediately began playing again.

Andean musicians

 











 
Andean musicians,

masters of many instruments,

play with all their heart

These two musicians entertain us with pre-Columbian huaynos as we dine at a restaurant in Urubamba. They call their group Pachamama, the Earth Mother. Their lively, rhythmic music is both earthy and heavenly, interwoven with the pulsating vibrations from their hearts. Yuri is playing zamponas, pan pipes, and the guitar at the same time. He also plays a traditional wooden flauta, flute. His partner is playing a wankara, a large drum made from a hollowed tree trunk covered with stretched goatskin, formerly used in battles. Andean musicians use a wide range of  instruments with melodious names: bastos, maltas, chilles, quenas, quenachos, chacchas, okarinas, charango, pitos, phunas, digeridoos, yembes, pututus.