Kirtan

kirtana (Bengali: কীর্তন; Kannada: ಕೀರ್ತನೆ; Marathi: कीर्तन; Punjabi: ਕੀਰਤਨ; Hindi: कीर्तन; Telugu: కీర్తన; Tamil: கீர்த்தனை; Sanskrit (IAST): kīrtana; Sanskrit for "praise; eulogy"; also sankirtana) is call-and-response chanting performed in India's bhakti devotional traditions. A person performing kirtana is known as a kirtankara or, colloquially, a "kirtaneera". Kirtana practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, tablas, the two-headed mrdanga or pakhawaj drum and hand cymbals (karatalas). It is a major practice in Vaisnava devotionalism, Sikhism, the Sant traditions and some forms of Buddhism, as well as other religious groups. Kirtana is sometimes accompanied by story-telling and acting. Texts typically cover religious, mythological or social subjects.

The bhakti movement

In the Bhagavad-gita (9.13-9.14) Lord Krishna states that great souls worship and glorify him single-mindedly, but the practice of kirtana was popularized as a means to this end in the bhakti movement of the Moghul era. It is often suggested as the form of religious activity best suited to the present age. Kirtana is often practiced as a kind of theatrical folk song with call-and-response chanting or antiphon. Narada, the ancient sage said to have composed the Narada Bhakti Sutra, is often spoken of as the originator of this tradition. The famous story of Prahlada in the Avatara Katha mentions kirtana as one of nine forms of worship, called the nava vidha bhakti along with shravanam (listening), smaranam (remembrance), pada sevanam (service), archanam (offering), vandanam, (obeisance), dasyam (servitude), sakhyam (friendship) and atmanivedanam (surrender). The so-called Naradiya Kirtana divides kirtana into five parts;naman (prayers),purvaranga (spiritual lesson based on old epics), chanting, katha or akhyan (exegesis) and a final prayer for universal welfare. All in all this may last from half an hour to three hours.