GetWiki

{{short description|Singing of poems or hymns in Indian traditions}}{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}File:Navaratri Bajan.jpg|thumb|Bhajan in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, during Navratri Golu.]]{{Indian music}}{{Hinduism small}}Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Dharmic religions, in any language.BOOK,weblink registration, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M, James G. Lochtefeld, The Rosen Publishing Group, 2002, 978-0-8239-3179-8, 97, The term bhajanam (Sanskrit: भजनम्) means reverence and originates from the root word bhaj (Sanskrit: भज्), which means to revere, as in 'Bhaja Govindam' (Revere Govinda). The term bhajana also means sharing.The term bhajan is also commonly used to refer a group event, with one or more lead singers, accompanied with music, and sometimes dancing.BOOK,weblink India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic, Arnold P. Kaminsky, Roger D. Long, ABC-CLIO, 2011, 978-0-313-37463-0, 484–485, Normally, bhajans are accompanied by percussion instruments such as tabla, dholak or a tambourine. Handheld small cymbals (kartals) are also commonly used to maintain the beat. A bhajan may be sung in a temple, in a home, under a tree in the open, near a river bank or a place of historic significance.Anna King, John Brockington, The Intimate Other: Love Divine in Indic Religions, Orient Longman 2005, p 179.Having no prescribed form, or set rules, bhajans are normally lyrical and based on melodic ragas.BOOK, Denise Cush, Catherine Robinson, Michael York, Encyclopedia of Hinduism,weblink 2012, Routledge, 978-1-135-18979-2, 87–88, It belongs to a genre of music and arts that developed during the Bhakti movement. It is found in the various traditions of Hinduism as well as Jainism. Within Hinduism, bhajans are particularly prevalent in Vaishnavism.Ideas from scriptures, legendary epics, the teachings of saints and loving devotion to a deity are typical subjects in bhajans.Bhajans have been widely composed anonymously and shared as a musical and arts tradition. Genres such as Nirguni, Gorakhanathi, Vallabhapanthi, Ashtachhap, Madhura-bhakti and the traditional South Indian form Sampradya Bhajan each have their own repertoire and methods of singing.BOOK, Amaresh Datta, Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo,weblink 1987, Sahitya Akademi, 978-81-260-1803-1, 430–431,

Etymology

The Sanskrit word bhajan or bhajana is derived from the root {{transliteration|sa|bhaj}}, which means "divide, share, partake, participate, to belong to".BOOK, Cutler, Norman, Songs of Experience, Indiana University Press, 1987, 1, 978-0-253-35334-4,weblink BOOK, Pechilis Prentiss, Karen, The Embodiment of Bhakti, Oxford University Press, US, 1999, 24, 978-0-19-512813-0,weblink BOOK, Werner, Karel, Love Divine: studies in bhakti and devotional mysticism, Routledge, 1993, 168, 978-0-7007-0235-0,weblink The word also connotes "attachment, devotion to, fondness for, homage, faith or love, worship, piety to something as a spiritual, religious principle or means of salvation".BOOK, Monier Monier-Williams, A Sanskrit-English Dictionary,weblink 1872, Oxford University Press, 695,

Hinduism

Historical roots

In Hinduism, Bhajan and its Bhakti term Kirtan, have roots in the ancient metric and musical traditions of the Vedic era, particularly the Samaveda. The Samaveda Samhita is not meant to be read as a text, but sung as it is like a musical score sheet that must be heard.Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-0143099864}}, pages 107-112Other late Vedic texts mention the two scholars Shilalin (IAST: Śilālin) and Krishashva (IAST: Kṛśaśva), credited to be pioneers in the studies of ancient drama, singing and dance.BOOK, Natalia Lidova, Drama and Ritual of Early Hinduism,weblink 1994, Motilal Banarsidass, 978-81-208-1234-5, 111–114, {{Sfn|Tarla Mehta|1995|pp=xxiv, xxxi–xxxii, 17}} The art schools of Shilalin and Krishashva may have been associated with the performance of Vedic rituals, which involved story telling with embedded ethical values. The Vedic traditions integrated rituals with performance arts, such as a dramatic play, where not only praises to gods were recited or sung, but the dialogues were part of a dramatic representation and discussion of spiritual themes.ML Varadpande (1990), History of Indian Theatre, Volume 1, Abhinav, {{ISBN|978-8170172789}}, pages 45–47{{Sfn|Maurice Winternitz|2008|pp=181–182}}}}The Vedas and Upanishads celebrate Nada-Brahman, where certain sounds are considered elemental, triggering emotional feelings without necessarily having a literal meaning, and this is deemed a sacred, liminal experience of the primeval ultimate reality and supreme truth.BOOK, Guy Beck, Bruno Nettl, et al, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent,weblink 1998, Routledge, 978-0-8240-4946-1, 246–247, BOOK, Annette Wilke, Oliver Moebus, Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism,weblink 2011, Walter de Gruyter, 978-3-11-024003-0, 886–898, BOOK, Stephen Breck Reid, Psalms and Practice: Worship, Virtue, and Authority,weblink 2001, Liturgical Press, 978-0-8146-5080-6, 10, This supreme truth is considered as full of bliss and rasa (emotional taste) in the Hindu thought, and melodic sound is considered a part of human spiritual experience. Devotional music genres such as Bhajan are part of a tradition that emerged from these roots.However, bhajans rose to prominence as a way of expressing fervent devotion to the divine, breaking down barriers of caste and society, during the Bhakti and Sant movements of medieval India (about the 6th to the 17th centuries).By writing verses in a variety of regional languages, saints and poets like Kabir, Mirabai, Tulsidas, and Surdas played a crucial part in popularizing bhajans and making them understandable to a larger audience. Their Bhajan lyrics emphasized the universality of divine love while praising the intimate connection between the believer and the deity.

Hindu Bhajans

A Bhajan in Hindu traditions is an informal, loosely structured devotional song with music in a regional language.BOOK, Guy Beck, Bruno Nettl, et al, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent,weblink 1998, Routledge, 978-0-8240-4946-1, 251–254, They are found all over India and Nepal, but are particularly popular among the Vaishnav traditions such as those driven by devotion to avatars of Vishnu such as Krishna, Rama, Vitthal and Narayana (often with their consorts). In Southern India, Bhajanais follow a tradition (Sampradaya) called the Dakshina Bharatha Sampradaya Bhajanai. This involves a tradition that has been followed for the last several centuries and includes Songs/Krithis/Lyrics from great composers all over India encompassing many Indian languages.JOURNAL, Kuppuswamy, Gowri, Hariharan, M, BHAJANA TRADITION IN SOUTH INDIA,weblink 26 March 2022, 16 June 2022,weblink dead, A Bhajan may be sung individually, but more commonly together as a choral event wherein the lyrics include religious or spiritual themes in the local language. Bhajans often describe loving devotion to a deity, legends from the Epics or the Puranas, compositions of Bhakti movement saints, or spiritual themes from Hindu scriptures.BOOK, Annette Wilke, Oliver Moebus, Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism,weblink 2011, Walter de Gruyter, 978-3-11-024003-0, 2–3, 33–37, The Bhajans in many Hindu traditions are a form of congregational singing and bonding, that gives the individual an opportunity to share in the music-driven spiritual and liturgical experience as well as the community a shared sense of identity, wherein people share food, meet and reconnect. Bhajans have played a significant role in community organization in 19th and 20th century colonial era, when Indian workers were brought to distant lands such as Trinidad, Fiji and South Africa as cheap labor on plantations.BOOK, Movindri Reddy, Social Movements and the Indian Diaspora,weblink 2015, Routledge, 978-1-317-47897-3, 164, BOOK, Helen Myers, Music of Hindu Trinidad: Songs from the India Diaspora,weblink registration, 1998, University of Chicago Press, 978-0-226-55453-2, 88, 128, JOURNAL, O'Callaghan, Marion, Hinduism in the Indian Diaspora in Trinidad, Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, 11, 1, 1998, 10.7825/2164-6279.1178, free, Some Bhajans are centuries old, popular on a pan-regional basis, passed down as a community tradition, while others are newly composed. Everyone in the Hindu tradition are free to compose a Bhajan with whatever ideas or in praise of any deity of their wish. But since they are sung, they typically follow meters of classical Indian music, the raga and the tala to go with the musical instruments.BOOK, Guy Beck, Bruno Nettl, et al, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent,weblink 1998, Routledge, 978-0-8240-4946-1, 247–253, They are sung in open air, inside temples such as those of Swaminarayan movement, in Vaishnava monasteries, during festivals or special events, and at pilgrimage sites.BOOK, Guy Beck, Bruno Nettl, et al, The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent,weblink 1998, Routledge, 978-0-8240-4946-1, 254–255, There are some terms related to bhajan. Bhajansimran and Bhajankirtan help a disciple to achieve the higher reverence towards God.

Bhajan versus Kirtan in the Hindu traditions

A Bhajan is closely related to Kirtan, with both sharing common aims, subjects, musical themes and being devotional performance arts. A Bhajan is more free in form, and can be singular melody that is performed by a single singer with or without one and more musical instruments. Kirtan, in contrast, differs in being a more structured team performance, typically with a call and response musical structure, similar to an intimate conversation or gentle sharing of ideas, and it includes two or more musical instruments,BOOK, Peter Lavezzoli, The Dawn of Indian Music in the West,weblink 2006, A&C Black, 978-0-8264-1815-9, 371–372, JOURNAL, Sara Black Brown, Krishna, Christians, and Colors: The Socially Binding Influence of Kirtan Singing at a Utah Hare Krishna Festival, Ethnomusicology, University of Illinois Press, 58, 3, 2014, 454–480, 10.5406/ethnomusicology.58.3.0454, with roots in the prosody principles of the Vedic era.BOOK, Alanna Kaivalya, Sacred Sound: Discovering the Myth and Meaning of Mantra and Kirtan,weblink 2014, New World, 978-1-60868-244-7, 117–122, Many Kirtan are structured for more audience participation, where the singer calls a spiritual chant, a hymn, a mantra or a theme, the audience then responds back by repeating the chant or by chanting back a reply of their shared beliefs.BOOK, Alanna Kaivalya, Sacred Sound: Discovering the Myth and Meaning of Mantra and Kirtan,weblink 2014, New World, 978-1-60868-244-7, 3–17, 34–35, Sara Brown (2012), Every Word Is a Song, Every Step Is a Dance, PhD Thesis, Florida State University (Advisor: Michael Bakan), pages 25-26, 87-88, 277 A Bhajan, in contrast, is either experienced in silence or a "sing along".BOOK, Malory Nye, A Place for Our Gods: The Construction of an Edinburgh Hindu Temple Community,weblink 2013, Routledge, 978-1-136-78504-7, 113,

Jainism

Stavan is a form of popular and historically pervasive genre of devotional music in Jainism. The subject of a Stavan varies, ranging from praise of Jina, Jain religious ideas and its philosophy, in a manner similar to Bhakti Bhajans.BOOK, M. Whitney Kelting, Singing to the Jinas: Jain Laywomen, Mandal Singing, and the Negotiations of Jain Devotion,weblink 2001, Oxford University Press, 978-0-19-803211-3, 28–29, 84, Jainism rejects any Creator god, but accepts protector deities and rebirth of souls as heavenly beings, and its devotional singing traditions integrate these beliefs. Stavan may include dancing and worship rituals. Known as Bhajan in north and west Indian regional languages, a Stavan is typically sung as folk melodies by groups of Jain women, and are a formal part of ceremonies and celebrations within Jainism.BOOK, Peter J. Claus, Sarah Diamond, Margaret Ann Mills, South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia,weblink 2003, Routledge, 978-0-415-93919-5, 302,

Buddhism

File:Asan_gyanmala.jpg|thumb|Members of the Nepalese Buddhist Gyānmālā Bhajan Khala singing hymns at Asan, KathmanduAsan, KathmanduNumerous Buddhist traditions use vocal music with instrumental accompaniment as part of their rituals and devotional practices.Van Khê, Trân. “Buddhist Music in Eastern Asia.” The World of Music, vol. 26, no. 3, 1984, pp. 22–32. JSTOR, {{JSTOR|43561005}}. Accessed 18 Dec. 2023.Mabbett, Ian W. “Buddhism and Music.” Asian Music, vol. 25, no. 1/2, 1993, pp. 9–28. JSTOR, {{doi|10.2307/834188}}. Accessed 18 Dec. 2023. Buddhist vocal music and chanting is often part of Buddhist rituals and festivals in which they may be seen as offerings to the Buddha.Arnold et al (1998). The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent, p. 247. Taylor & Francis. In South Asia, there are still several traditions of Buddhist bhajan singing. One is the Newari Buddhist Gunlā Bājan tradition, which has a long history.Bengali Barua Buddhists also have a tradition of singing songs in the vernacular, which they call Buddha-samkirtan or Buddha kirtan.BOOK, Sukomal Chaudhuri,weblink Contemporary Buddhism in Bangladesh, Atisha Memorial, 1982, 81, Chatterjee, Aparna (2022). The Barua Buddhists: Lineage and Cultural Interface, pp. 91-92. Shhalaj Publishing House.There is also a more recent tradition of Indian Buddhist bhajans which has become popular among recent Indian converts to Buddhism.Sri Lankan Buddhists also have their own tradition of bhajans and Buddhist songs.

Sikhism

The Sikh tradition places major emphasis on devotional worship to one formless God, and Bhajans are a part of this worship.BOOK, J. Gordon Melton, Martin Baumann, Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition,weblink 2010, ABC-CLIO, 978-1-59884-204-3, 1397, A more common form of community singing is called Shabad Kirtan in Sikhism. A Shabad Kirtan is performed by professional religious musicians, wherein bani ('word', or 'hymns') from the Sikh scripture are sung to a certain raga and tala.BOOK, Kristen Haar, Sewa Singh Kalsi, Sikhism,weblink 2009, Infobase, 978-1-4381-0647-2, 60–61,

Modern composers and singers of Bhajans

File:Local musicians singing bhajan at kamakhya temple, Guwahati, Assam, India.webm|thumb|Local musicians singing bhajan at Kamakhya temple, Guwahati, AssamAssamA modern Bhajan has no fixed form: it may be as simple as a mantra or kirtan or as sophisticated as the dhrupad, thumri or kriti with music based on classical ragas and talas.David Courtney:weblink {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210315231155weblink |date=15 March 2021 }}V. D. Paluskar and V. N. Bhatkhande have combined Indian classical music with bhajan. Pandit Kumar Gandharva made famous the Nirguni Bhajans of Sant Kabir and Malwa Region. The dancer Mallika Sarabhai has produced performances based on bhajans. Abhinaya Chakravathi Sri JS Eswara Prasad Rao of Hyderabad, who is the disciple of AL Krishnamurthy Bhagavathar, Pudukkottai system, has produced performances based on Sampradaya bhajans under the title "Nitrya Sankeerthnam".{{citation needed|date=July 2016}}Bhajans of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism traditions, Vedic mantras and Yoga chants have been composed, published in Western musical sheet format or recorded by western singers such as Krishna Das, Deva Premal, Miten, and by various West Indies singers influenced by East Indian heritage.BOOK, Isabel Laack, Religion und Musik in Glastonbury: Eine Fallstudie zu gegenwärtigen Formen religiöser Identitätsdiskurse,weblink 2011, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 978-3-647-54011-5, 298–306, 582, BOOK, Helen Myers, Music of Hindu Trinidad: Songs from the India Diaspora,weblink registration, 1998, University of Chicago Press, 978-0-226-55453-2, 294–339, 111–150, BOOK, Annette Wilke, Oliver Moebus, Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism,weblink 2011, Walter de Gruyter, 978-3-11-024003-0, 285, 477–484, 790–801, The Stavan compositions and literature of the Jainism tradition are extensive, with a historic overview provided by Sri Sudhara Stavan Sangrah, traditionally preserved in "puja box" by Jain families. It is vectored text with Jain lyrics and is canonically inspired.BOOK, Mary Whitney Kelting, Singing to the Jinas: Jain Laywomen, Maṇḍaḷ Singing, and the Negotiations of Jain Devotion,weblink 2001, Oxford University Press, 978-0-19-514011-8, 69, 215 with footnotes 13–14, Kripalu Maharaj is one of the modern era bhakti leaders and bhajan-kirtan composers.Hutton, F. 2008. Rose lore: essays in cultural history and semiotics. Lexington Books. He has composed eleven thousand one hundred and eleven doha (couplets) on the leela of Radha and Krishna, and the devotional philosophy called Radha Govind Geet; 1008 pad (songs) called Prem Ras Madira; hundreds of kirtan in the form of Yugal Shatak and Yugal Ras and twelve pad which fully describe the beauty and the decorations of Krishna, and thirteen pad which describe the beauty and the decorations of Radha called Shree Krishn Dwadashi and Shree Radha Trayodashi.Saraswati, S. 2001. The true history and the relfigion of India: a concise encyclopedia of authentic hinduism. Motilal Banarsidass Renditions of Shree Maharaji's bhajans and kirtans have been recorded by well-known singers in India such as Manna Dey,Kinnear, M. 1985. A discography of Hindustani and Karnatic music. Greenwood Press. Ajnish, Anuradha Paudwal and Anup Jalota.Rang De with Anup Jalota at Radha Madhav Dham, Austin {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405031155weblink |date=5 April 2016 }}. 20 October 2011. Indo-American News. Retrieved 15 December 2011.Sampradaya Bhajanai, Birmingham, UK. 14 July 2017. How to perform Dakshina Bharatha Sampradaya Bhajanai with English Lyrics.In the olden days, Sants such as Mirabai, Surdas, and Narsinh Mehta composed several bhajans that are universally sung even today.

See also

• Filmi devotional songs
• Gurunath
• Salabega
• Stotras
• Kirtan
• Raga

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

• BOOK, Tarla Mehta, Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India,weblink 1995, Motilal Banarsidass, 978-81-208-1057-0,
• BOOK, Adya Rangacharya, Introduction to Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra,weblink 1998, Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers, 978-81-215-0829-2,
• BOOK, Maurice Winternitz, Moriz Winternitz, History of Indian Literature Vol 3 (Original in German published in 1922, translated into English by VS Sarma, 1981), 2008, Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, 978-8120800564,

External links

{{Prone to spam|date=December 2015}}{{Worship in Hinduism}}{{Hindustani Classical Music page end}}{{Religious music}}