King Harsha's Grand Tournament

Location: INDIA

Lyrics:

King Harsha is here

In glorious robes!

As Indra he comes

And we are transfixed

And king of Assam -

In glorious robes!

As Brahma he comes,

Astonishing us!

Hindus and Jains-

Buddhists as one

All of us here

And mighty Xuanzang!

The elephants dance

The drummers rejoice

For we shall begin

A dialogue for God

The procession moves on

The monks chant their song

And we shall debate

the nature of God

Credits:

Instrumentation, elephants and vocals - Tony Garone

Comments:

This was Xuanzang's final moment in India before he returned to China with the complete and accurate copies of Buddhist scriptures. King Harsha was a devout Hindu, yet he was amazed at Xuanzang's abilities as a communicator and teacher of Buddhist doctrine. Because he was so impressed, the king proposed a grand tournament; a massive religious debate at which Xuanzang would be the focal point. Xuanzang was pleased as he was an excellent debater of religious doctrine.

The debate consisted of kings from 18 vassal kingdoms, three thousand Buddhist monks, and three thousand Hindus and Jains. Some arrived on elephants, some on chariots and some by foot. King Harsha dressed as the Hindu god, Indra, while the king of Assam dressed as the Hindu god, Brahma. It was a massive spectacle, and I really tried to portray that in the music. As the festival began, Hindu priests blew on their conch shells (which is the sound you hear at the beginning of the song).