- What is Keertan?
"Kirtan" is the singing of sacred hymns in many different religions including Hinduism, Sikhism, some types of Islam and other faith groups that have some adherents in India.
The most well known form of kirtan or keertan is Shabad Gurbanee Keertan.
Shabad means scripture or verse. Gurbanee means the written word of the enlighteners. The word keertan may have originated from the word "keerat" which means, in Hindi and Punjabi, praise.
The Sikh practice of keertan generally refers to a person playing a musical instrument (typically the Indian harmonium, a.k.a. vaajaa) and another person playing drums (typically the Indian traditional drums, a.k.a. tablaa). The person playing the instrument sings sacred verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, which is termed by many North American and European non-Sikh researchers as the modern universal humanistic scripture. Sometimes, sacred verses written by highly esteemed Sikhs like Bhai Gurdas are also sung as keertan.
There are many different groups of singers of keertan. Some use aboriginal Australian instruments, some use guitars, violins, sitars and other string instruments, and some use various types of African and Indian drums, etc.
Sometimes keertan is intertwined with "simran" which is the practice of reciting the name - any name - of God in praise and love. For example "waheguru waheguru waheguru" or "allah allah allah" or "ram ram ram" or "hari hari hari" . When the simran is being done with music and drums, and all the devotees sing with love and appreciation for the universal energy of truth within all, the atmosphere becomes very powerful and it is a truly beautiful experience.
In the Guru Granth Sahib, it is said that keertan is a chief (very important) and pious act in this dark age of human evolution, because it elevates people to appreciate and reflect on our commonality, our inner light, the importance of truth and love, and it causes people to be inspired to stand up for peace and fight for human rights. It is also said that katha, the explanation of the verses so that all people can learn, reflect, understand and live by the teachings, is the primal and most important act.
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- What is Keertan.Net?
Keertan.Net is a Non-Group affiliated Gurbani & Veechar Audio Website.
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- What do the icons mean and what players do you recommend?
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Read the gurbani being sung -- in Gurmukhi, Transliteration, and Translation. Powered by SikhiToTheMax Technology.
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Stream the Mp3 track -- the track will play without the need to download. We recommend using Winamp to play and stream Mp3s, you can download it here.
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Download an Mp4 audio track. In order for you to play Mp4 on your computer you need to download the 3ivX codecs here. It should then play in Windows Media Player.
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Stream the audio file to your real player, for dialup connections. You can get Real Player Here.
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Download the Real Audio file to your computer. Right click and select "Save Target/Link As.."
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Stream the video file to your real player, for dialup connections. You can get Real Player Here.
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Download the Real Video file (low quality) to your computer. Right click and select "Save Target/Link As.."
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Stream the high quality video file to your real player, for broadband (fast) connections. You can get Real Player Here.
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Download the Real Video file (high quality) to your computer. Right click and select "Save Target/Link As.."
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Stream the audio file in high quality windows media audio format. You can get Windows Media Player here.
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Stream the video file in high quality windows media video format. You can get Windows Media Player here.
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Download the video in digital quality DivX;) (Mp4 avi) format. DivX;) can be near DVD quality when correctly encoded. In order for you to play DivX;) on your computer you need to dowload the DivX codecs and player here.
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Download the video in Mpeg format. On some computers this file may stream.
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Pictures associated with this track. Pictures of the Keertani. More photos may be available at Waheguroo! Photos.
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