Sikh kirtan
The sung scripture that occupies most of a Sikh service.
Congregational singing of scriptural hymns, typically accompanied by harmonium and tabla. Because the Guru Granth Sahib is composed as poetry set to prescribed musical modes, singing is the primary way Sikhs take in their scripture, and kirtan fills most of a gurdwara service. Trained musicians called ragis often lead, with the sangat, the gathered congregation, joining in.
Kirtan is the singing of scripture, and it is the substance of worship in a gurdwara rather than an accompaniment to it. Musicians sing compositions from the Guru Granth Sahib in the musical modes the scripture itself specifies.
Those modes are written into the text: the scripture is arranged by raag, and singing a passage in the mode assigned to it is part of what the tradition understands the composition to be.
A congregation sits on the floor and listens, and joins in where it knows the words. Sessions can be long.
Does it have a text?
The texts are the scripture itself, in Gurmukhi. Same obstacle as the rest of the Sikh material here, and it is the reason this site holds no Sikh text at all.
When it comes up
Other forms of prayer in Sikh
- Nitnem — The set daily prayers of Sikh practice, recited morning, evening and before sleep.
- Naam simran — Remembrance of the divine name, repeated aloud or in the breath.
- Ardas — The congregational petition that closes every Sikh service and marks every undertaking.
- Path — The reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, sometimes continuously from beginning to end.
- Langar and seva — The free kitchen and the service around it, treated as devotional acts.
This page describes a practice. It does not tell you how to perform it, or whether you should. Practice varies by region, community and household far more than a page like this can carry, and nobody credentialed in the tradition has signed anything here. The full dossier names its sources.