By the very nature of Indian Classical music and its traditional style of performance, be it Carnatic or Hindustani, it is hard to create studio-grade records. There is heavy improvisation and musicians have opportunity to create quite unique performances each time they perform, even if the Raga is same. This is what makes it hard to re-create an Indian Classical music piece in a studio setting. And so, only well recorded live performances can offer the most authentic experience of Indian music. Here are some high quality recordings of live performances from some of the best artists of Carnatic music.

- From the NCPA Archives - M.S. Subbulakshmi - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/from-the-ncpa-archives/id9...

- From the NCPA Archives - Balamuralikrishna - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/masterworks-from-ncpa-arch...

Apart from the Ragas and Nuances in the music, the poetry in the music is scintillatingly beautiful too, exposing Indian Conception of God and philosophy. Saint Thyagaraja from 16th century is one of famous Carnatic music composers. Celebrating his compositions is one of the oldest and largest musical festival in the world called Thyagaraja Aradhana - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tyagaraja_Aradhana that happens once every year in Southern part of India, and its sister festival all across world including in Cleveland. If you are visiting India to experience its culture, then its music should be an essential experience you should be taking home. All major cities in South India will have Carnatic music events all year long. Delhi and other north Indian metros too have quite vibrant Carnatic music scene, though you have to really search to find events. Delhi on the other hand has year-long Hindustani music scene.

For the more curious, here is a course on Carnatic Music from IIT Madras - Appreciating Carnatic Music - https://onlinecourses.nptel.ac.in/noc15_hs03/preview - it assumes no prerequisites and starts from very basics of sound. It exposes some of the young contemporary Carnatic musicians and their performances.