When The Kumbh Mela Found Its Voice: Siddhant Bhatia On Music, Mysticism, And The Machinery Of Sound
In conversation with Grammy-nominated singer, composer, and sound engineer Siddhant Bhatia, whose Sounds of Kumbha turns India’s grandest spiritual gathering into a living soundscape.
Published : October 14, 2025 at 5:08 PM IST
|Updated : October 14, 2025 at 5:14 PM IST
If you were to imagine the Kumbh Mela as a sound, what would it be? Maybe the swirl of a conch shell. Maybe a million feet shuffling through dust. Maybe the eternal hum of faith itself. Siddhant Bhatia (music composer, sound engineer, and Grammy-nominated singer) doesn’t just imagine it. He records it.
His latest project, Sounds of Kumbha, is an attempt to make music out of something as vast, sacred, and chaotically human as the Kumbh Mela. The album has 7 producers: Grammy winner Jim Kimo West, Madi Das, Ron Korb, Charu Suri, Devraj Sanyal, Raghav Mehta and Bhatia. This is a global product of Bharat.
“It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Siddhant tells ETV Bharat. “I didn’t want to recreate the Kumbh through instruments. I wanted to let the Kumbh sing through us.” So he and his team did what most sound engineers wouldn’t dare: they set up recording equipment in the middle of the Mela. Amidst the sound of chants, the rhythm of footsteps, the splash of sacred water. What they captured became the heartbeat of the album: real field recordings layered with live musicianship, creating a sonic experience that’s as spiritual as it is sensory.
The artiste calls himself a “vessel of the universe,” which sounds lofty until you hear Sounds of Kumbha. Then it makes perfect sense. The album feels less like a composition and more like a transmission (the kind of thing you feel before you understand).
Alchemy Of Collaboration
For a project this immense, collaboration was inevitable. But in his world, “collaboration” isn’t about famous names or big features. “It was never about choosing artists,” he says. “It was about bringing together people who wanted to do something meaningful for the Mahakumbha.” That sense of devotion over ambition defines Sounds of Kumbha. On one track, you’ll hear Adnan Khan’s earthy sitar tones; on another, Kala Ramnath’s violin soaring like an invocation, and Zuheb Ahmed Khan on tabla. Then there’s Ram Ram (the album’s spine, as Siddhant calls it) featuring the voice of his spiritual teacher, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. “Having my Gurudev on this project was the single greatest blessing of my life,” he says. “It elevated everything, from a religious event to a global festival of world peace.”
The album features Grammy winners and nominees, and global artists like Selvaganesh Vinayakram, Raja Kumari, Ajay Prasanna, as well as Bollywood and youth sensations like Kanika Kapoor, Aditya Gadhvi, rappers Yashraj and Siroyi. “It was like the whole universe collaborated on one mantra,” the accomplished music producer says with a small laugh. You get the sense that for him, the music isn’t just about sound. It’s about surrender.
Scientist Of Sound
It’s easy to imagine Siddhant as a man in two halves: the classical singer and the sound scientist. On one hand, he’s trained under legends: from Ustad Munir Khan of the Indore Gharana to Kala Ramnath ji and the late Ustad Rashid Khan. On the other, he’s an SSL-certified sound engineer who knows his way around million-dollar consoles and rare microphones most musicians will never touch. He smiles at the contradiction.
“I’ve always wanted to keep the sound as natural as possible,” he says. “Working on consoles like the SSL 9000K and Neve boards gives a very international yet organic perspective.” His studio hosts some of the most expensive analog gear in India — Lipinski monitors, DW Fearn preamps, Royer and Microtech Gefell microphones. But for all that tech talk, he insists it’s never about the tools. “Plugins and DAWs are just that... tools. What matters is the intention. We wanted to create a sound that feels soothing, simple, and human.”
In a world where most producers build soundscapes inside laptops, Siddhant's insistence on live, breathing space feels almost rebellious. He doesn’t believe in chasing perfection — he believes in capturing truth.
Eternal Student
Despite the accolades (the Grammy nod, the collaborations, the innovation), he still describes himself, humbly, as a student. “That student is very much alive,” he says. “I’m still learning every day.” He speaks of his gurus with the reverence of a man who knows where his roots lie. “We’re all students till the end of our lives,” he says. “The classical tradition keeps you humble and constantly curious.”
Perhaps that’s what gives his music its balance. It’s devotional without being dogmatic, futuristic without being cold. When he talks about his multiple roles (singer, composer, engineer, producer), he admits that all of them feel like home, but one still holds his heart. “The closest to my heart will always be that of a singer,” he says. “That’s who I truly am.”
So where does Indian music go from here? Siddhant's answer is simple and sweeping: “Spirituality and togetherness. The global industry is slowly recognizing the magnetic power and healing quality of Indian sound... that it’s not just art, it’s energy.” He doesn’t flinch at the mention of AI or the digital tide transforming the music industry. “It’s definitely going to continue,” he says. “There’s no way to step away from technology now. But the future lies in how meaningfully we use these tools to deepen our connection with sound, not replace it.” If he had to define the future of Indian sound in three words? “Conscious. Global. Timeless.”
And when asked what he hopes listeners take away from Sounds of Kumbha, “Stillness,” he says. “And the joy of celebrating oneness. Like Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said, the whole world is one family and one light.”
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