Kirtans or Bhajans in India?

August 18, 2010 10:21 AM

I'm a fan of kirtan (sanskrit call-and-response devotional music from India) and am planning a trip to India mid-September to early December. Surprisingly I'm unable to locate online or in my guidebooks any temples or festivals where I might find some great kirtans or bhajans. Do any of you know of any famous ones that might happen this fall?

Something akin to "bhakti-fest" would be amazing...

posted by wavejumper to Society & Culture (4 answers total)

I put this out to my former employers, who are Indian and also big music aficianados there. Hopefully we'll get some good suggestions.
posted by sundrop at 11:18 AM on August 18, 2010

If you go to almost any temple or festival you will get kirtans because that is overwhelmingly the manner in which worship is done in India. I can reliably inform you that any Sikh temple (Gurdwara) will have kirtans/shabads most days (usually morning and evening). Also, with Gurdwaras, if you question devotees you'll get lots and lots of pointers to similar events in the vicinity. I suspect similar methods would work with other religions.
posted by gadha at 1:48 PM on August 18, 2010

Akshardham in Delhi may be a good place. They also have a website. Search for Swaminarayan BAPS.
posted by london302 at 3:08 PM on August 18, 2010

If you visit temples in Mathura/Vrindavan, you'll find what you're looking for. Best part is, you don't have to wait for any famous thing to happen. It's an everyday thing.

The Krishna Janmashtami (birthday of Lord Krishna) is to be celebrated on September 2 this year, but seems to be out of your dates. You will be in India for Diwali (November 5) and Dusshera (October 17) though, so I am sure you'll find a great deal of bhajans/kirtans around those days in Rama temples.
posted by vidur at 6:43 PM on August 19, 2010