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The guru Sai Baba owns Puttaparthi, really. He built most of it, anyway, from close to nothing, we hear. Schools, incredible hospitals, tennis stadiums, infrastructure of which the locals are justifiably and insistently proud. Prominent among these local institutional treasures is this, the Sai Baba‘s musical academy.

One hopes the music is at least as inspiring as the architecture.

Actually it may be more so: when we saw the man they call Swami hold court in front of hundreds of adoring subjects at his lavish ashram, there were live musicians and singers leading the crowd in undending waves of song. It would build to a frenzy, settle down, change course, and build again, for hours, with no interruption from Sai Baba save the occasional motion of his hand bringing a small white handkerchief to his mouth.

And frankly, the music was awesome.