Kirtan

Kirtan Chanting

Born from one of the oldest sacred sound traditions of the world, kirtan call-and-response chanting, comes to us from India. Kirtan involves Satsang, a Sanskrit term meaning where people gather together as a community to remember to turn inward and to help each other find our own inner path.

Kirtan is called yogic chanting and yoga means union. Kirtan uses a combination of sound, vibration, melody, harmony, and Sanskrit mantras to lead us into meditation: a state of unity and inner connection with ourselves, our community, and more expanded states of consciousness. The chanting can be moving and exhilarating, and at the same time, quieting and meditative. Kirtan may he performed in any language because all sound comes from the Divine source and because kirtan is sung with devotion the vibrations that are created have a universal inpact. Kirtan is part mantra yoga, nada yoga (the yoga of vibratory frequency and sound), and bhakti yoga (the yoga of devotion and the heart). Chaitanya Mahaprabu (1486-1533) began spreading congregational call and response chanting of the holy names of universal consciousness throughout India, and started the sankirtana movement that continues worldwide today.

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(Image and description from Ann Arbor Kirtan)

Members of Ann Arbor Kirtan present a free evening of community discourse and discussion, mantra repetition, kirtan chanting, and meditation:

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