Kirtan

In Sikhism, kirtan is the devotional practice of singing hymns from the Sikh scripture, the Guru Granth Sahib. The Guru Granth Sahib is not just a holy book; Sikhs regard it as their living Guru, the eternal guide for their faith. Kirtan is therefore a way of directly connecting with the Guru's teachings through music and voice. The practice traces back to Guru Nanak himself, who traveled on his long udasis, journeys, accompanied by Bhai Mardana, a Muslim musician who played the rabab, a stringed instrument, while Guru Nanak sang the hymns that would later form the opening of the Guru Granth Sahib. From that companionship at the very start of the Sikh tradition, singing scripture rather than merely reading it has remained central to how Sikhs worship.

At the heart of Sikh kirtan is the shabad — a hymn from the Guru Granth Sahib. Each shabad has a designated raag, or melodic framework, which is specified in the scripture itself. The raag is not just a tune; it is a spiritual mood or emotion that helps bring out the meaning of the hymn. When Guru Arjan Dev compiled the scripture at Amritsar in 1604, he organized its hymns by raag rather than by author or date, a structure that begins with Raag Siri at Ang 14 and closes with Raag Jaijavanti at Ang 1352. That arrangement means the music is not a later addition to the words; it is built into the scripture's own architecture, and a ragi singing a shabad in any raag other than the one the Guru Granth Sahib assigns it is understood to be departing from the text itself.

Traditionally, a kirtan performance begins with a prayer or a brief reading from the Guru Granth Sahib, and then the lead singer, called a ragi or kirtaniya, sings the chosen shabad, often accompanied by musical instruments. The most common instruments today are the harmonium, a small hand-pumped keyboard instrument brought to India by European missionaries in the nineteenth century and later adapted into Sikh music, and the tabla, a pair of hand drums. In more traditional settings, you might also hear the rabab, the same stringed instrument Bhai Mardana played for Guru Nanak, or the taus, a bowed instrument, but the harmonium and tabla are most widespread today. In recent decades some gurdwaras have revived rabab-based kirtan specifically to recover the sound Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana would have made.

Kirtan is typically sung in a call-and-response style. The lead singer sings a line of the shabad, and the congregation repeats it back. This back-and-forth creates a powerful sense of unity and participation. In a gurdwara, kirtan takes place during the main service, which usually includes a sermon and a shared meal, the langar. The ragi jatha, a group of musicians trained in kirtan, leads the singing. They sit on a low platform facing the congregation, with the Guru Granth Sahib placed on a raised throne, the takht, at the front of the hall. Everyone in the congregation sits on the floor, often cross-legged, as a sign of humility and equality. The kirtan is not a performance for entertainment; it is a communal act of worship. During the singing, people may close their eyes, sway gently, or raise their hands in devotion. Some may even stand and dance with joy, though this is a spontaneous expression of devotion, not a required part of the service.

Sikhs believe that when you sing the hymns with full attention and devotion, you are not just performing a song, you are meditating on God's name, Naam Simran. The sound of the kirtan is meant to calm the mind, open the heart, and help the worshiper feel the presence of the Divine. Because of this, kirtan is considered a form of seva, selfless service, and a direct path to spiritual liberation. There are variations in how kirtan is performed depending on the region and the specific Sikh community. In some places, the singing is more meditative and slow, with long pauses, while in others it is lively and rhythmic.

The tradition of kirtan in Sikhism is ancient, but it continues to evolve. Today, you can also find Sikh kirtan in modern settings, with electronic instruments or recorded backing tracks, but the core practice remains the same: singing the hymns of the Guru Granth Sahib with devotion, in a congregation, to connect with the Divine. Large diwans and Sikh festivals such as Vaisakhi often bring together several ragi jathas over many hours, so that the singing continues almost without pause as one group relieves another, and pilgrims travel long distances specifically to sit in that continuous stream of shabad.

For anyone encountering Sikh worship for the first time, kirtan is the most accessible and moving entry point, a practice that invites everyone, regardless of background, to join in singing the sacred words that Guru Nanak and Bhai Mardana first carried from village to village. What began as one traveling Guru and one rabab player has grown into a practice performed daily in gurdwaras on every continent, yet the basic act, a shabad sung in its assigned raag and echoed back by the congregation, remains exactly what it was when Bhai Mardana first set Guru Nanak's words to music.