He's known as the singing priest by his parishioners in Thrissur, Kerala. But Father Paul Poovathingal doesn't sing just hymns and carols; his repertoire includes Meera bhajans and songs praising Allah as well as Hindu deities. And he sings them all in the traditional Carnatic style.

"No one has ever stopped me from singing Carnatic music, which is usually based on Hinduism," says the priest of the Order of Carmelites of Mary Immaculate. "I have always been encouraged to pursue my music," he says. The priest was in Chennai for the annual music festival to accompany his guru, the well-known playback and Carnatic music singer, KJ Yesudas, who is also a Christian.

The lyrics of traditional Carnatic music compositions are usually devotional or philosophical in nature, drawing on Hindu religious tenets - and now Christians too are setting their hymns to classical ragas and talas. Choir groups too are getting into the act. The words may not be very different from the hymns sung at prayer services, but rather than standing behind the priest and singing to the notes of the organ, these choir singers sit cross-legged on the floor as a traditional Carnatic ensemble, complete with violin, harmonium and mridangam (a South Indian percussion instrument). They wear Kanjeevaram saris and jasmine flowers, and the trinity they sing praise to is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Limsas, a choir based in Chennai that sings at religious congregations across the city, starts its kutcheri (Carnatic music concert) with a prayer and the traditional sa re ga ma. Beulah Santhi, the choir teacher, has students ranging from age four to forty. "I started these classes in 2000 as parents said they wanted their children to learn Christian songs set to Carnatic ragas," she says. Santhi teaches her students' Tamil kritis (songs), in praise of Jesus, written by various composers. The students get a book of 400 Christian kritis in Tamil; each song comes with specific instructions about the raga and tala in which it should be sung. "Many of these songs were written 50 or 60 years ago, but no one has been singing them as most choirs tend to follow the western style of singing," says Santhi, who is a graduate in Carnatic music.

Santhi teaches her students the basics of Carnatic music, just like any other teacher. But instead of Sri Gananatha, a simple song in praise of Ganesha that most students start with, the children are taught a song in praise of Jesus in the same raga and tala. The class begins with Santhi asking a student to pray for the success of the session. She then tunes the harmonium to set the scale and asks the children to identify the raga.

The choir's schedule is pretty tight during Christmas and New Year. The rest of the year, they sing at prayer meetings. "Recently, we went to Coimbatore for a special mass. After a couple of performances by regular choirs, we went on stage and sat on the floor with the harmonium. The crowd looked at us in surprise," says Santhi. They went on to give a 'Christian music kutcheri', singing songs in different ragas with the mridangam accompanying them. "The audience response was overwhelming," she says.

Musician and composer Paul Augustine says, "Singing choir songs in different ragas is rather new. Though the audience doesn't dislike the concept, they find it hard to sing along as they do with a regular choir." He says his music group has at least two songs in an album of eight set in the Carnatic style. These musicians aren't the only ones - or the first - to cut across religious barriers with their music. In the 70s and 80s, nadaswaram maestro Sheikh Chinnamoulana and vocalist John Higgins mastered and popularised Carnatic music in India and abroad. Sheikh Chinnamoulana toured the US giving nadaswaram concerts, after which Americans flocked to Chennai to learn to play the pipe instrument. John Higgins, an American, was so popular in Tamil Nadu that he was given the title 'bhagavathar' (the Carnatic music equivalent of ustad).

Father Paul makes it a point to have a 'mixed team' on stage - his violinist is Abdul Aziz from Kochi, Guruvayur Sanoj plays the mridangam and Thrissur Srijith accompanies him on the ghatam (a pot-shaped percussion instrument). The group has even played at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for former President Abdul Kalam. "The audience was amazed when our names were announced," the father says. "They were even more stunned when I started the concert with Vathapi Ganapathim (in praise of Ganesha) and then Salathullah Salamullah (a song for Allah). We ended with a song on national integration in kalyani raga instead of the traditional end-piece. President Kalam said we had forged a new path in Indian classical music by integrating religions," he says, smiling.