कीर्तन

What a kīrtan is

A kīrtan joins singing, story-telling, acting and dance. One or two main performers lead it, usually with harmonium and tabla.

Nāradīya kīrtan

The Nāradīya kīrtan, named after the sage Nārada, is performed by a single kīrtankār, often learned in literature, music, acting and comedy. It has two halves. The पूर्वरंग opens with a prayer and expounds a spiritual theme, drawing on the poetry of saints such as Dnyāneshwar, Eknāth, Nāmdev and Tukārām. After an interval of chanting God’s names, the उत्तररंग tells a story, the आख्यान, that bears out the theme. It closes with a prayer and an āratī.

Its form owes much to learned poets of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, such as Shrīdhar, Mahīpati and Moropant.

Vārkarī kīrtan

Vārkarī kīrtan, which tradition traces to Nāmdev, has no separate halves. The kīrtankār sings a saint’s abhaṅg and explains it, with a chorus of twenty or more keeping time on ṭāḷ, the hand cymbals, and mṛdaṅg. It is sung on the pilgrimage to Paṇḍharpūr.

Two at once

In a jugalbandī kīrtan two kīrtankārs share the stage, in question and answer, dialogue and debate.

Where you will hear it

Kīrtans are held in temples, at festivals and at the halts of the vārī. The Pasāydān closes many of them, as it closes many pārāyaṇs and bhajans.

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