Innumerable music albums praising the lord Ayyappa who resides in Sabarimala in Kerala has been made over the years.
But when the living legend of music Illayaraja makes a devotional album, just like his heart touching film music it will be indeed a work which will set a new benchmark of standard for others to follow.
For the first time the music maestro has brought out a devotional album dedicated to Swami Ayyappa also known as Manikantan.
The album has eight songs created with great care and devotion.
The album will be available in all the four South Indian languages.
For the Tamil version Illayaraja has given his voice for six songs.
For Telugu and Kannada, S.P.Balasubramanyam has given life to 6 songs.
In Malayalam, Vijay Yesudas and Madhu Balakrishnan has sung 6 songs
In all the four languages, Shankaran Namoodiri has sung one song while a male group has given voice for a chorus song.
Leading lyric writers of all the four states have associated with the music director for bringing out this music album.
For Tamil, Vaali did the duties. K.Kalyan wrote the words for Kannada. Vennela Kanti wrote the Telugu lyrics while Anil Kumar created the Malayalam lyrics.
"Manikantan Geet Mala' is the debut project of IndiaTales Media Private Limited which is a new entertainment company started with a mission to take the culture and folklore of India to a global audience.
IndiaTales comprises of a dedicated team of experienced Indian executives and global directors fully devoted to get the Indian culture its deserved and rightful place in the world using mediums like animation, theatre, music, books and visual art.
A full length animated feature film titled as 'Manikantan' will be brought out soon by the company to be released allover India in Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.
The music album "Manikantan Geet Mala" was launched as an exclusive online pre-order on August 22, 2008 and the website has already generated over 75,000 hits since its online release.
The Album will remain on Online Pre-Order till October 12, 2008 and the album will be simultaneously be shipped to customers Worldwide in the 2nd week of October in an effort to eliminate Piracy.
Manikantan Geet Mala is currently available in 2 versions ' Gold and Platinum.
The Gold Version is available in each of the 4 recorded languages while the Limited Platinum Edition has all 4 Versions in One Special Package which includes a Bonus CD as well as a Free Copy of the Coffee Table Book entitled Manikantan: A Mural Journey.
Only 999 Copies of the Platinum Edition are available for sale and customers purchasing the Box Set will enter into a draw to spend an hour with the Legendary Ilaiyaraaja in person.