Kirtan (Sanskrit: "to repeat";[1] also Sankirtan[2]) is call-and-response chanting performed in India's devotional traditions.[3] A person performing kirtan is known as a kirtankar. Kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, the two-headed mrdanga or pakawaj drum, and karatal hand cymbals. It is a major practice in Vaisnava devotionalism, Sikhism, the Sant traditions, and some forms of Buddhism, as well as other religious groups (see religion).
Kirtan and the Bhakti movement
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In the Bhagavad-gita (9.13-9.14) Krishna states that great souls worship and glorify him single mindedly. The practice of kirtan was popularized as a means to this end in the Hindu devotional revival of the Moghul era.
The Varkari saint Namdev (c. 1270–1350), a Shudra tailor, used the kirtan form of singing to praise the glory of god Vithoba.
In the early 16th century CE Chaitanya Mahaprabhu traveled throughout India, popularizing Krishna sankirtan.
The Sikh tradition of Kirtan or Gurmat Sangeet was started by Guru Nanak at Kartarpur in the early 1500s and was strengthened by his successors, particularly Guru Arjan, at Amritsar. In spite of several interruptions, kirtan continued to be performed at the Golden Temple and other historical Gurdwaras .
Sikhs refer to a hymn or section of the Guru Granth Sahib as a Shabad . The first shabad in the SGGS is the Mool Mantar. The hymns are arranged in chapters named after musical ragas, all the shabads in any chapter to be sung to that particular raga with due attention to tala and dhuni (See also Sikh music).
The following texts show the importance the Sikh gurus gave to kirtan;
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- Let your mind remain awake and aware, singing the kirtan of the Lord's praises.
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- Singing the kirtan of the Lord's praises, the Name abides within the mind.
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- Singing the kirtan of His praises, my mind has become peaceful. The sins of countless incarnations have been washed away. I have seen all treasures within my own mind; why should I now go out searching for them?
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- One is saved from hell, suffering is destroyed, countless pains depart, death is overcome, and one escapes the Messenger of Death, by absorption in the kirtan of the Lord's praises.
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The girl's name Kirtana/Keerthana is used in South India, particularly Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It means "Hymn sung in the praise of God".
In the West
Paramhansa Yogananda was an early proponent of kirtan in the west, chanting Guru Nanak's Hey Hari Sundara ("Oh God Beautiful") with 3,000 people at Carnegie Hall in 1923.[5] Kirtan became more common with the spread of Gaudiya Vaishnavism by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in the 1960s.[6] Kirtan is currently growing in popularity in the West, with singers of Western kirtan including Krishna Das and Jai Uttal. Yoga centers report an increase in attendance at kirtan. [7] Hindu spokesman Rajan Zed has called for the introduction of kirtan as a new type of award at the Grammys. Zed also urged the organizers of American Music Awards and British Phonographic Industry's annual BRIT Awards to include an award for Favorite Kirtan Artist of the Year.[8] Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits is a popular group from the United States who are signed to Equal Vision's Mantralogy sub-label who tour and bring kirtan music to the West.
References
- ^ MacDonell, A. A. (2004). A practical Sanskrit Dictonary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
- ^ Nye, Malory (1995). A Place for Our Gods. Routledge. pp. 124. ISBN 9780700703562. http://books.google.com/books?id=PEtnlcck3l8C&pg=PA124.
- ^ "Kirtan". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31. http://www.webcitation.org/5kwsLEBKX.
- ^ Hare Krishna Tree
- ^ Yogananda, Paramhansa (2007). Autobiography of a Yogi. BiblioBazaar, LLC. pp. 526-527. ISBN 9781426424151. http://books.google.com/books?id=xuwqcgWdZF4C&pg=PA526.
- ^ Jackson, Carl T. (1994). Vedanta for the West. Indiana University Press. p. 134. ISBN 0-253-33098-X.
- ^ "Chanting Is an Exercise in Body and Spirit - NYTimes". www.nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/fashion/05fitness-01.html?_r=3&scp=1&sq=kirtan&st=cse. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- ^ "Hindus Ask Prestigious Grammys to Include 'Kirtan' as a Field for Future Music". newsblaze.com. http://newsblaze.com/story/20090426141819zzzz.nb/topstory.html. Retrieved 2009-05-02.
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