About SVARAM
Our Mission
We explore how sound and music influence our bodies, emotions, relationships, and the world around us. Bridging ancient traditions and modern science, we seek to understand music’s role in healing, learning, and collective transformation.
Our Team – The Living Symphony of SVARAM
Just as countless melodies emerge from the seven notes, SVARAM’s original team of seven has grown into a vibrant ensemble of over 90 dedicated artisans, designers, researchers, healers, musicians, trainees and international volunteers. Each person brings unique gifts, skills, and spirit, together creating the symphony that is the SVARAM Sound Experience. Here, working with our hands opens our hearts, focuses our minds, and energizes the spirit. Our team is united by a love for sound, a curiosity to explore, and a deep sense of community. We collaborate with master artisans, researchers, and institutions to rediscover ancient sounds and craft new ones.
This joyful collaboration fuels a culture of creativity and discovery, where tradition meets innovation, and every new instrument is a step into the unknown, in search of yet-unheard harmonies.
Our Founders
Aurelio C. Hammer
is a pioneering sound artist, instrument maker, and founder of SVARAM – Musical Instruments & Research in Auroville, India. Born in the Austrian Alps and deeply attuned to the subtle harmonies of nature, Aurelio has spent over three decades exploring the global language of sound, its healing potentials, and its cultural significance.
His journey began with studies in linguistics and ethnomusicology, followed by years of immersive travel across continents, learning from indigenous sound traditions, sacred music cultures, and spiritual lineages. Arriving in Auroville in 1991, he has since become a key contributor to its creative and transformative vision through sound, healing, education, and design.
In 2003, Aurelio founded SVARAM as a social enterprise and research center that combines traditional craftsmanship with innovative sound explorations. SVARAM not only produces over 120 handcrafted instruments , ranging from tuned chimes and stone lithophones to the Anantar, but also offers vocational training and empowerment for local youth.
Aurelio is internationally recognized for his work in sound healing, pioneering an integral approach called A Sound Approach to Life. At the Sonorium, a dedicated sound healing sanctuary in Auroville, he leads immersive experiences using custom-built instruments like the Nidranantar resonance table, therapeutic sound tools, and elemental soundscapes designed to promote well-being and inner balance.
His large-scale sound installations can be experienced globally – from the Mumbai International Airport to immersive exhibits, public spaces, and healing retreats. Blending ancient acoustic wisdom with contemporary design, his creations invite contemplative and transformative experiences of listening.
With deep roots in Auroville’s vision and a spiritual connection to the Matrimandir, Aurelio’s work bridges inner exploration and outer manifestation. His lifelong commitment to sound as a tool for human and planetary evolution continues to inspire individuals and communities across cultures.
Karthikeyan Saminathan
is a co-founder and Executive of SVARAM, as well as a long-time Aurovilian. Deeply involved in the evolution of SVARAM since its inception, he has co-developed many of SVARAM’s signature instruments and played a key role in training and mentoring generations of local trainees and artisans.
Karthik’s journey with Sound Stones began in the early 2000s, when he was captivated by the powerful resonance and expressive potential of stone. He created his first lithophone in 2003 and has since crafted over 200 pieces, many of which are featured in public and private spaces around the world.
A pioneer in SVARAM’s Sound Stone work, he merges artistic sensitivity with technical precision. Collaborating with international sound artist Hannes Fessmann and others, Karthik shaped SVARAM’s reputation for excellence in this field.
He is also a certified Sound Healing practitioner, integrating the therapeutic dimensions of sound into his work and contributing to SVARAM’s broader vision of healing, education, and community transformation.
Karthik continues to lead a dedicated team of artisans, exploring the meeting point of ancient wisdom and future possibilities through sound and material. Outside of SVARAM, he is a devoted family man, living in Auroville with his wife and two sons.
