Bhajans Vs Kirtan: Know the difference

In Hinduism, there are many routes or you can say rituals through which an individual can praise a particular deity or when heading towards the path of salvation and spirituality. But the one that is practised the most is singing and chanting god’s preaching. Devotes practising Hinduism around the world are familiar with terms like bhajans and kirtan.

Through music, one can express their feelings, emotions, and grief basically to sum up all one can express every human emotion through music. The same follows to devotional songs or music, devotees either express their love and faith towards God through bhajans or kirtans or praise the almighty’s deeds and preaching through singing and chanting.

Bhajans and kirtan are two terms which are the same yet different on some levels. First,  let us know what exactly Bhajans and kirtan are.

How do we define Kirtan?

Although kirtans can be described in many forms, however, the most suitable is;

“Kirtan is a Sanskrit word that means "narrating, reciting, telling, describing" an idea or story, specifically in Indian religions. It also refers to a genre of religious performance arts, connoting a musical form of narration or shared recitation, particularly of spiritual or religious ideas, native to the Indian subcontinent.

With roots in the Vedic anukirtana tradition, a kirtan is a call-and-response style song or chant, set to music, wherein multiple singers recite or describe a legend, express loving devotion to a deity, or discuss spiritual ideas. It may include dancing or direct expression of bhavas (emotive states) by the singer.

Many kirtan performances are structured to enthral the audience where they either repeat the chant or reply to the call of the singer.”

Now,

How do we define Bhajans?

Bhajan refers to any devotional song with a religious theme or spiritual ideas, specifically among Indian religions, in any language. The term bhajanam means reverence and originates from the root word bhaj which means to revere, as in 'Bhaja Govindam' (Revere Govinda). The term bhajana also means sharing.

Now, as we have known the suitable way to define both Bhajans and kirtan, these two sound so similar but there are some key differences between them.

What are some key differences between bhajans and Kirtan?

Although bhajans and kirtan share common themes and aim which is to praise a deity or express love and faith towards the almighty, there are some differences which are listed below;

Bhajans are free to form, that is there is no rigid form to sing bhajans while kirtan is a structured form of singing or chanting and even repeating.Bhajans can be sung individually or even in groups, while kirtan is formed in such a way that it needs two or more people to sing.Bhajan singing doesn’t necessarily need musical instruments whereas performing kirtan would need more than two or more musical instruments.Bhajans are individualistic forms of devotional singing whereas kirtan is a call-to-response form of chanting, repeating and singing.Bhajans do not require audience participation while kirtan are typically performed and structured for audience participation.