Kirtan Traditions
The great streams of sacred chant — where Kirtan comes from, who carried it, and how each lineage sounds today.
Western Kirtan
How sacred chant crossed the ocean — the gurus who carried it, the seekers who sang it home, and the living Western chant scene it became.
Explore the traditionNorth Indian Bhakti Kirtan
The Hindustani stream — sant poets, Ram and Krishna bhajans, and the harmonium-and-tabla sound that shaped Western chant.
Explore the traditionSouth Indian & Carnatic Devotional Singing
The South Indian stream — Alvar poetry, Haridasa song, and the great Carnatic composers who made devotion an art form.
Explore the traditionGaudiya Vaishnava & ISKCON Kirtan
The Bengal stream of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu — the Hare Krishna maha-mantra, the mridanga, and the sankirtana movement that went global.
Explore the traditionSikh Gurbani Kirtan
The Sikh stream — shabad kirtan of the Gurus, sung scripture in raga, and the Gurmukhi chants carried west by the Kundalini yoga community.
Explore the traditionBhajan & the Bhajan–Kirtan Relationship
Kirtan's sibling form — the solo devotional song of the sant poets, and how it differs from (and feeds) call-and-response chant.
Explore the traditionVarkari Kirtan & Marathi Abhang
The Maharashtra stream — Dnyaneshwar, Namdev, Eknath, and Tukaram singing abhangs to Vitthal, in one of the oldest continuous kirtan lineages on earth.
Explore the tradition