Presenters

For DATC 2024, we are delighted to welcome back renowned world music artists

Aks & Lakshmi  of  Eclipse Nirvana

Aks & Lakshmi are a composer-vocalist (and husband and wife) duo who pioneered Electronic Bhakti Music. Through engaging live shows, albums and videos, Aks & Lakshmi present the peace, love and pluralistic vision of poets such as Adi Shankaracharya, Kabir, Mirabai, and Surdas to multi-faith audiences.

Ashwin — known professionally as Aks — is an Indian-American composer, producer and vocalist with credits spanning albums, film & TV, and video games. Trained by Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman, he creates music that blends electronic orchestration with catchy melodic hooks. He has produced music for over 200 original songs and teaches in UCLA’s Film Scoring program. Lakshmi is a vocalist-scholar who brings singing, scholarship, and storytelling onto one platform. With an M.A. in Religious Studies from Stanford University, she performs and writes on the great Indian saint-poets of the Bhakti Movement. She has also recorded several devotional albums with her mother and guru Padmini Chandrashekar in her hometown Singapore.

In addition to being beloved past presenters at Princeton University’s DATC, they have also performed at Stanford University, at the Global Conference on World’s Religions, and  at spiritual organizations such as Chinmaya Mission, Vedanta Society, Brahmakumaris and Aurobindo Society. In recognition of the strong educational value that their sacred music embodies, they have been featured as cultural ambassadors at the American and Indian Embassies.

In their live performances, EDM chants, bhajans and stotras (devotional song and hymn) interconnect with storytelling and visual media in a celebration of ecstatic devotion. In 2013, their music and media company Eclipse Nirvana released “The Bhakti Movement”, a project that modernized traditional songs and was distributed worldwide by Sony Music. Now based  in Los Angeles, California, Aks & Lakshmi perform across North America and beyond. Audiences describe their music as “healing”, “meditative” and “transforming”.

Learn more about them and their music here.

Student Presenters

We have been delighted to also feature presentations by Kalaa, Princeton University’s Indian classical dance company. Learn more about Kalaa here. We are also joined by Princeton Swara, the university’s classical singing and music ensemble. PU Swara features student presenters—some well-versed in Hindustani and Carnatic musical styles, others exploring a newfound love of these classical Indian music forms—raising their voices in a spirit of devotion. Connect with PU Swara here.

In addition, we are grateful for a number of individual student presenters who have shared their talents, reflections, and hearts with us at Diwali at the Chapel over the years.

Special Guest Artists (Past Years)

In past years, we have been honored to host special guest artists to present their devotional offerings. Guests have included:

  • Gaura Vani 
  • Jahnavi Harrison
  • The Mayapuris
  • Karnamrita Dasi
  • Dhanya Rico