Mystical systems
Bhajan
Direct answer
Bhajan: A bhajan is a devotional song of the Indian religions, sung alone or in company, freer in form than kirtan and often the work of a named poet-saint.
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At a glance
- Also called
- hindu devotional song
- Found in
- Mystical Systems
- Related
- Kirtan, Mantra, Japa
A bhajan is a devotional song of the Indian religions, sung alone or in company, freer in form than kirtan and often the work of a named poet-saint.
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What is a bhajan?
The word bhajan comes from a Sanskrit root meaning to share in or to adore, the same root as bhakti, devotion. A bhajan is any song of love addressed to God: a verse in a spoken language, set to a simple tune and sung at home, in a temple or at a gathering. Unlike kirtan it need not be in call and response, and it usually has a full text with verses and a refrain.
Much of the repertory is the poetry of the saints of the bhakti movements. The songs of Mirabai to Krishna, the couplets of Kabir, and the hymns of Surdas, Tulsidas and Tukaram are still sung daily, and Mohandas Gandhi made the bhajan Vaishnava Jana To a part of his public prayer meetings.
On the tree of the hidden arts: Sound and mantra.
What sets Bhajan apart
A bhajan is closer to a hymn than to a mantra. It has an author, a language of the people and something to say: longing, complaint, praise, a story of the god's childhood. Many end with the poet's own name worked into the last verse as a signature, which is how the songs of Mirabai or Kabir are known as theirs. Because the words carry the weight, a bhajan is sung so that they can be followed, and the same text may travel through many tunes.
- Root: Sanskrit bhaj, to share in or adore, as in bhakti
- Languages: Hindi, Braj, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and other spoken tongues
- High age: the poet-saints of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries
- Signature: the closing verse carries the name of its poet
- A famous one: Vaishnava Jana To, by Narsinh Mehta, loved by Gandhi
Often mistaken for something else: Kirtan repeats a few names in call and response; a bhajan is a composed song with verses, a refrain and a known poet.
The story behind Bhajan
Devotional song in the languages of the people begins with the Tamil poet-saints between the sixth and ninth centuries and spreads north over the following centuries. The high age of the northern bhajan is the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries, the time of Kabir, Surdas, Mirabai, Tulsidas and Tukaram, whose verses were handed on by singing long before they were printed. In the twentieth century radio, film and recordings made a common repertory across India.
Why Bhajan matters
The bhajan is where the poetry of the Indian saints lives: to know the word is to know that these verses are meant to be sung, not read.
How to read Bhajan
A reader meets the term in accounts of Indian worship and music, and needs it to tell a composed song from the repeated names of kirtan.
Bhajan in practice: an example
A family sings a verse of Mirabai at the evening lamp, one voice leading and the others joining the refrain.
Where readings of Bhajan go wrong
A bhajan is an act of devotion for those who sing it, and belongs to their faith. It is not offered here as a technique.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Mystical Systems
- Aliases
- bhajans, bhajan song, hindu devotional song, bhajan singing
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
What is a bhajan?
A bhajan is a devotional song of the Indian religions. It has verses and usually a refrain, is sung alone or in company, and is often the work of a poet-saint.
Who wrote the best known bhajans?
Many come from the poet-saints of the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries: Kabir, Surdas, Mirabai, Tulsidas and Tukaram among them. Their verses were passed on by singing.
