Bhajan

{{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''' is an Indian term for any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Dharmic religions, in any language.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p97">{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch|url-access=registration|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: A-M|author=James G. Lochtefeld|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8239-3179-8|page=97}}</ref> 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 to a group event, with one or more lead singers, accompanied with music, and sometimes dancing.<ref name="kaminskylong484">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VVxlfDHGTFYC|title=India Today: An Encyclopedia of Life in the Republic|author1=Arnold P. Kaminsky|author2=Roger D. Long|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2011|isbn=978-0-313-37463-0|pages=484–485}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0">Anna King, John Brockington, ''The Intimate Other: Love Divine in Indic Religions'', Orient Longman 2005, p 179.</ref> A group of bhajan performers may be known as a ''maṇḍalī''.<ref>Flueckiger, Joyce Burkhalter. "LITERACY AND THE CHANGING CONCEPT OF TEXT: Women's Ramayana Maṇḍalī in Central India." In Boundaries of the Text: Epic Performances in South and Southeast Asia, edited by Joyce Burkhalter Flueckiger and Laurie J. Sears, 43–60. University of Michigan Press, 1991. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.3998/mpub.19503.8.</ref>

Having no prescribed form, or set rules, bhajans are normally lyrical and based on melodic ragas.<ref name="CushRobinson2012p87">{{cite book|author1=Denise Cush|author2=Catherine Robinson|author3=Michael York|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kzPgCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA87 |year=2012|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-18979-2 |pages=87–88 }}</ref> It belongs to a genre of music and arts that developed during the Bhakti movement.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p97"/> It is found in the various traditions of Hinduism as well as Jainism. Within Hinduism, bhajans are particularly prevalent in Vaishnavism.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p97"/>

Ideas from scriptures, legendary epics, the teachings of saints and loving devotion to a deity are typical subjects in bhajans.<ref name="CushRobinson2012p87"/>

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.<ref name="Datta1987">{{cite book|author=Amaresh Datta|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: A-Devo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObFCT5_taSgC&pg=PA430|year=1987|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1803-1|pages=430–431}}</ref>

==Etymology== The Sanskrit word ''bhajan'' or ''bhajana'' is derived from the root {{transliteration|sa|bhaj}}, which means "divide, share, partake, participate, to belong to".<ref name="Cutler">{{cite book|last=Cutler|first=Norman|title=Songs of Experience|publisher=Indiana University Press|year=1987|pages=1|isbn=978-0-253-35334-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=veSItWingx8C&pg=PA1}}</ref><ref name="Prentiss">{{cite book|last=Pechilis Prentiss|first=Karen|title=The Embodiment of Bhakti|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=US|year=1999|page=24|isbn=978-0-19-512813-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Vu95WgeUBfEC&pg=PA24}}</ref><ref name="Werner">{{cite book|last=Werner|first=Karel|title=Love Divine: studies in bhakti and devotional mysticism|publisher=Routledge|year=1993|pages=168|isbn=978-0-7007-0235-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYahlaJCLnYC&pg=PA168}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite book|author=Monier Monier-Williams|title=A Sanskrit-English Dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_3NWAAAAcAAJ |year=1872|publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=695 }}</ref>

==Hinduism==

===Historical roots=== In Hinduism, ''Bhajan'' and its Bhakti term, ''Kirtan'', have roots in the ancient metrical 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''.<ref name=staal107>Frits Staal (2009), Discovering the Vedas: Origins, Mantras, Rituals, Insights, Penguin, {{ISBN|978-0143099864}}, pages 107-112</ref>

Other 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.<ref name="Lidova1994p111a">{{cite book|author=Natalia Lidova |title=Drama and Ritual of Early Hinduism |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3TKarwqJJP0C |date=1994 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1234-5 |pages=111–114}}</ref>{{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 storytelling with embedded ethical values.<ref name="Lidova1994p111a"/> 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.<ref name=varadpande45>ML Varadpande (1990), History of Indian Theatre, Volume 1, Abhinav, {{ISBN|978-8170172789}}, pages 45–47</ref>{{Sfn|Maurice Winternitz|2008|pp=181–182}}

{{Quote box | bgcolor=#FFE0BB |align=right |salign = right |quote= '''A lyric from a Hindu Bhajan''' <poem> This body is but a guest of four days, a house made of dirt. On this earth your mark is made, a symbol of your good work. </poem> |source =— Translated by David N. Lorenzen<ref>{{cite book|author=David N. Lorenzen|title=Bhakti Religion in North India: Community Identity and Political Action|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rpSxJg_ehnIC |year=1995|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-2025-6|page=242}}</ref>}} 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.<ref name="NettlStone1998p246">{{cite book|author=Guy Beck|editor=Bruno Nettl|display-editors=et al|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1|pages=246–247}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Annette Wilke |author2=Oliver Moebus |title=Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9wmYz_OtZ_gC |year=2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-024003-0 |pages=886–898 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Stephen Breck Reid|title=Psalms and Practice: Worship, Virtue, and Authority|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OyGqWnBY4KIC |year=2001|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5080-6 |pages=10 }}</ref> 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.<ref name="NettlStone1998p246"/> Devotional music genres such as ''bhajan'' are part of a tradition that emerged from these roots.<ref name="NettlStone1998p246"/>

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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

===Hindu Bhajans=== A ''Bhajan'' in Hindu traditions is an informal, loosely structured devotional song with music in a regional language.<ref name="NettlStone1998p254">{{cite book|author=Guy Beck|editor=Bruno Nettl|display-editors=et al|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1|pages=251–254}}</ref> 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).<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p97"/><ref name="NettlStone1998p254"/> 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kuppuswamy |first=Gowri |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.10217#:~:text=Bhajana%20connotes%20worship%20of%20Gods,Gods%20through%20songs,%20dance%20etc. |title=Bhajana tradition in South India |last2=Hariharan |first2=M. |date=1982 |publisher=Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Lochtefeld2002p97"/><ref name="CushRobinson2012p87"/> 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.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Annette Wilke |author2=Oliver Moebus |title=Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9wmYz_OtZ_gC |year=2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-024003-0 |pages=2–3, 33–37}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NettlStone1998p255"/> ''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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Movindri Reddy|title=Social Movements and the Indian Diaspora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CAUBCwAAQBAJ |year=2015|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-47897-3 |pages=164 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Helen Myers|title=Music of Hindu Trinidad: Songs from the India Diaspora|url=https://archive.org/details/musicofhindutrin00myer |url-access=registration|year=1998|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-55453-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/musicofhindutrin00myer/page/88 88], 128 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=O'Callaghan | first=Marion | title=Hinduism in the Indian Diaspora in Trinidad | journal=Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies | volume=11 | issue=1 | year=1998 | doi=10.7825/2164-6279.1178 | doi-access=free }}</ref>

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.<ref name="NettlStone1998p247">{{cite book|author=Guy Beck|editor=Bruno Nettl|display-editors=et al|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1|pages=247–253}}</ref> 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.<ref name="NettlStone1998p255">{{cite book|author=Guy Beck|editor=Bruno Nettl|display-editors=et al|title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia, the Indian subcontinent|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZOlNv8MAXIEC |year=1998|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-8240-4946-1|pages=254–255}}</ref>

===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,<ref name=lavezzoli371>{{cite book|author=Peter Lavezzoli|title=The Dawn of Indian Music in the West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OSZKCXtx-wEC |year=2006|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-0-8264-1815-9 |pages=371–372 }}</ref><ref name=Brown>{{cite journal | author=Sara Black Brown | title=Krishna, Christians, and Colors: The Socially Binding Influence of Kirtan Singing at a Utah Hare Krishna Festival | journal=Ethnomusicology | publisher=University of Illinois Press | volume=58 | issue=3 | year=2014 | pages=454–480 | doi=10.5406/ethnomusicology.58.3.0454 }}</ref> with roots in the prosody principles of the Vedic era.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alanna Kaivalya|title=Sacred Sound: Discovering the Myth and Meaning of Mantra and Kirtan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PkhAwAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=New World |isbn=978-1-60868-244-7 |pages=117–122 }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Alanna Kaivalya|title=Sacred Sound: Discovering the Myth and Meaning of Mantra and Kirtan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7PkhAwAAQBAJ |year=2014|publisher=New World|isbn=978-1-60868-244-7|pages=3–17, 34–35}}</ref><ref>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</ref> A ''Bhajan'', in contrast, is either experienced in silence or a "sing along".<ref name=lavezzoli371/><ref>{{cite book|author=Malory Nye |title=A Place for Our Gods: The Construction of an Edinburgh Hindu Temple Community|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QF5cAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA113 |year=2013|publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-78504-7 |pages=113 }}</ref>

==Jainism== ''Stavan'' is a form of popular and historically pervasive genre of devotional music in Jainism.<ref name="Kelting2001p28"/> The subject of a ''Stavan'' varies, ranging from praise of Jina, Jain religious ideas and its philosophy, in a manner similar to Bhakti Bhajans.<ref name="Kelting2001p28">{{cite book|author=M. Whitney Kelting|title=Singing to the Jinas: Jain Laywomen, Mandal Singing, and the Negotiations of Jain Devotion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=elcn1IEJ3CEC |year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-803211-3|pages=28–29, 84}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Peter J. Claus|author2=Sarah Diamond|author3=Margaret Ann Mills|title=South Asian Folklore: An Encyclopedia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ienxrTPHzzwC&pg=PA302 |year=2003|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-93919-5 |pages=302 }}</ref>

== Buddhism == {{Main|Buddhist music}} [[File:Asan_gyanmala.jpg|thumb|Members of the Nepalese Buddhist Gyānmālā Bhajan Khala singing hymns at Asan, Kathmandu.]] Numerous Buddhist traditions use vocal music with instrumental accompaniment as part of their rituals and devotional practices.<ref>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.</ref><ref>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.</ref> Buddhist vocal music and chanting is often part of Buddhist rituals and festivals in which they may be seen as offerings to the Buddha.<ref name=":2">Arnold et al (1998). ''The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: South Asia : the Indian subcontinent,'' p. 247. Taylor & Francis.</ref>

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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Bengali Barua Buddhists also have a tradition of singing songs in the vernacular, which they call ''Buddha-samkirtan'' or ''Buddha kirtan.''<ref>{{cite book |author=Sukomal Chaudhuri |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NVoEAAAAYAAJ |title=Contemporary Buddhism in Bangladesh |publisher=Atisha Memorial |year=1982 |pages=81}}</ref><ref>Chatterjee, Aparna (2022). ''The Barua Buddhists: Lineage and Cultural Interface,'' pp. 91-92. Shhalaj Publishing House.</ref>

==Sikhism== The Sikh tradition places major emphasis on devotional worship to one formless God, and ''Bhajans'' are a part of this worship.<ref>{{cite book|author1=J. Gordon Melton |author2=Martin Baumann |title=Religions of the World: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices, 2nd Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v2yiyLLOj88C |year=2010|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-204-3 |pages=1397 }}</ref> A more common form of community singing is called ''Shabad Kirtan'' in Sikhism.<ref name="CushRobinson2012p87"/><ref name=kaminskylong484/> 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.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kristen Haar|author2=Sewa Singh Kalsi|title=Sikhism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YOI1nB_zTyAC |year=2009|publisher=Infobase |isbn=978-1-4381-0647-2 |pages=60–61}}</ref>

==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, Assam, India]] A 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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Courtney |first=David |title=Bhajan |url=https://chandrakantha.com/music-and-dance/film-and-pop/bhajan/ |website=Chandrakantha.com |access-date=15 June 2025}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite book|author=Isabel Laack|title=Religion und Musik in Glastonbury: Eine Fallstudie zu gegenwärtigen Formen religiöser Identitätsdiskurse|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TW_al8WEHfQC&pg=PA297|year=2011|publisher=Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht|isbn=978-3-647-54011-5 |pages=298–306, 582 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Helen Myers|title=Music of Hindu Trinidad: Songs from the India Diaspora|url=https://archive.org/details/musicofhindutrin00myer|url-access=registration| year=1998|publisher= University of Chicago Press|isbn= 978-0-226-55453-2 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/musicofhindutrin00myer/page/294 294]–339, 111–150}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Annette Wilke |author2=Oliver Moebus |title=Sound and Communication: An Aesthetic Cultural History of Sanskrit Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9wmYz_OtZ_gC |year=2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-024003-0 |pages=285, 477–484, 790–801 }}</ref>

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.<ref name=kelting215/> It is vectored text with Jain lyrics and is canonically inspired.<ref name=kelting215>{{cite book|author=Mary Whitney Kelting|title=Singing to the Jinas: Jain Laywomen, Maṇḍaḷ Singing, and the Negotiations of Jain Devotion|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EqXmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA215 |year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-514011-8 |pages=69, 215 with footnotes 13–14 }}</ref>

Kripalu Maharaj is one of the modern era bhakti leaders and bhajan-kirtan composers.<ref>Hutton, F. 2008. ''Rose lore: essays in cultural history and semiotics''. Lexington Books.</ref> 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''.<ref>Saraswati, S. 2001. ''The true history and the relfigion of India: a concise encyclopedia of authentic hinduism''. Motilal Banarsidass</ref> Renditions of Shree Maharaji's ''bhajans'' and ''kirtans'' have been recorded by well-known singers in India such as Manna Dey,<ref>Kinnear, M. 1985. ''A discography of Hindustani and Karnatic music''. Greenwood Press.</ref> Ajnish, Anuradha Paudwal and Anup Jalota.<ref>''[http://www.indoamerican-news.com/?p=4372 Rang De with Anup Jalota at Radha Madhav Dham, Austin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405031155/http://www.indoamerican-news.com/?p=4372 |date=5 April 2016 }}''. 20 October 2011. Indo-American News. Retrieved 15 December 2011.</ref><ref>''[https://carnatic-circle.com/sampradaya-bhajanai/ Sampradaya Bhajanai, Birmingham, UK]''. 14 July 2017. How to perform Dakshina Bharatha Sampradaya Bhajanai with English Lyrics.</ref>

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 * Stotra * Kirtan * Raga

==References== {{reflist}}

== Sources == *{{cite book|author=Tarla Mehta |title=Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l7naMj1UxIkC |year=1995|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-1057-0 }} *{{cite book| author=Adya Rangacharya |title=Introduction to Bharata's Nāṭyaśāstra |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h5rjAAAACAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers |ref=none|isbn=978-81-215-0829-2 }} *{{cite book |author =Maurice Winternitz |author-link= Moriz Winternitz |title=History of Indian Literature Vol 3 (Original in German published in 1922, translated into English by VS Sarma, 1981) |year=2008 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |location=New Delhi |isbn= 978-8120800564 }}

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->* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhnVAGdgRUo/ गजानन मचल गयो रे (Hindi bhajan lyrics, audios and videos)]

{{Worship in Hinduism}} {{Hindustani Classical Music page end}} {{Religious music}}

Category:Hindu prayer and meditation Category:Bhakti movement Category:Indian styles of music Category:Hindu music Category:Articles containing video clips Category:Puja (Hinduism) Category:Kirtan Category:Bhajan Category:Hindu mantras Category:Chants