Bablu Goyal

A bhajan literally means "sharing". It also refers to any

song with religious theme or spiritual ideas, in a regional

languages from the Indian subcontinent. As a bhajan has

no prescribed form, or set rules, it is in free form, normally

lyrical and based on melodic ragas. It belongs to a genre of

music and arts that developed with the Bhakti movement.

It is found in the various traditions of Hinduism but

particularly in Vaishnavism. It is also found in Jainism. Ideas

from scriptures, legendary epics, the teachings of saints and

loving devotion to a deity are the typical subjects of bhajans.

It is usually a group event, with one or more lead singers,

accompanied with music, and sometimes dancing. A bhajan

may be sung in a temple, in a home, under a tree in open,

near a river bank or a place of historic significance.

The saints of the Bhakti movement are credited with

pioneering many forms of bhajans, aarti, Hanuman Chalisa.