Kirtan
Kirtan (Sanskrit: "to repeat";[1] also Sankirtan[2]) is call-and-response chanting or "responsory" 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.
Kirtan and the Bhakti movement
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 16th century and was strengthened by his successors, particularly Guru Arjan, at Amritsar. In spite of several interruptions, kirtan continues 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 female given 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 ISKCON's founder 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, Bhagavan Das and Jai Uttal as well as Snatam Kaur, Lokah Music, Deva Premal, Wah and Gaura Vani & As Kindred Spirits. Yoga centers report an increase in attendance at kirtan. According to Pure Music’s Frank Goodman, kirtan, like the unpredictable rise and rejuvenation of the many forms of yoga in recent years, is everywhere now and there is a growing number of people flocking to the kirtan scene.[7]
In ISKCON, the term sankirtan is also used to refer to preaching activities, such as distribution of religious literature to the public.[8]
External links
References
- ^ MacDonell, A. A. (2004). A practical Sanskrit Dictonary. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
- ^ Nye, Malory (1995). A Place for Our Gods. Routledge. p. 124. ISBN 9780700703562.
- ^ "Kirtan". Archived from the original on 2009-10-31.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Hare Krishna Tree
- ^ Yogananda, Paramhansa (2007). Autobiography of a Yogi. BiblioBazaar, LLC. pp. 526–527. ISBN 9781426424151.
- ^ Jackson, Carl T. (1994). Vedanta for the West. Indiana University Press. p. 134. ISBN 0-253-33098-X.
- ^ Eckel, Sara (2009-03-05). "Chanting Is an Exercise in Body and Spirit - NYTimes". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2009-04-21.
- ^ Supreme Court of California, opinion in ISCKON v. City of Los Angeles, p.4. online
