Shabad Kirtan
What is Kirtan?
Kirtan is the singing of Gurbani — the sacred verses of the Guru Granth Sahib. It is one of the three central practices of Sikhi, alongside Naam Simran (meditation) and Seva (selfless service). Guru Nanak himself was a musician: his companion Bhai Mardana accompanied him on the rabab (a stringed instrument), and many of Guru Nanak's compositions were originally sung rather than spoken.
What distinguishes Sikh kirtan from other devotional music traditions is its foundation in raag — the classical melodic framework of Indian music. The compositions in the Guru Granth Sahib are assigned to 31 specific raags, each specifying the mood, time of day, and musical structure in which the verse should be performed.
The Raag System
The Guru Granth Sahib uses 31 raags — more than any other single text in Indian music history. Each raag creates a specific emotional and spiritual atmosphere:
- Raag Asa: Morning raag — expressing hope, aspiration, and the beauty of dawn
- Raag Gauri: The raag of devotion and contemplation — the most used raag in the Guru Granth Sahib
- Raag Bilaval: The raag of joy and celebration
- Raag Dhanasari: Evening raag — gentle, reflective, expressing gratitude
- Raag Sorath: The raag of longing and the monsoon season
This means that ideally, kirtan should be performed in the prescribed raag at the prescribed time of day — making it both a musical and a spiritual discipline of extraordinary depth.
Instruments
Traditional kirtan is performed with:
- Harmonium: A portable keyboard instrument that provides the harmonic foundation. It is the most common kirtan instrument today.
- Tabla: A pair of hand drums providing rhythmic accompaniment. The interplay between tabla and harmonium creates the musical structure.
- Rabab: The original instrument of Sikh kirtan, played by Bhai Mardana alongside Guru Nanak. A stringed instrument with a deep, resonant sound. It is rarer today but is being revived.
- Taus / Dilruba: Bowed string instruments that add a hauntingly beautiful melodic layer to kirtan.
- Jori: A pair of small drums that predated the tabla in Sikh kirtan.
Kirtan Today
Every gurdwara in the world performs kirtan during services — it is the central act of Sikh worship. In the diaspora, kirtan has also found new audiences: recordings of kirtan from the Golden Temple stream online 24/7, young musicians are exploring kirtan with contemporary arrangements, and kirtan workshops and camps teach the tradition to new generations.