Guest guest Posted September 19, 2004 Report Share Posted September 19, 2004 Karen wrote: Can you explain what "bhajains" are? Dear Karen, First a little story. I was very fortunate, at one point in my life, to take a university class in ethnomusicology. The instructor was from the Andeas, and I considered her to be a shaman. the class was small, only five, and we held it at the instructor's home. Since it was, in essence, a music class, we studied sacred music, especially chanting. The important things I learned about chanting, and I think this holds true for many or most bhajans is that they are made up of sacred syllables and a way to interact with the sacred, that they are most often repetitious, which makes it easier for the people who don't know them to sing along, and they are most often in the "call and response" mode, which is to say, the main chanter sings a verse, then the group sings a verse, and so it goes along like that. If you go to the website that Kandaaran provided, you will find a bhajan button and some examples of bhajans. Here is the site again: http://www.htsnm.org Now I will share one of my favorite bhajans, but keep in mind that for each verse, it is sung twice, once by the main chanter and then by the group. Shiva Shiva Mahadeva Nama Shivaya Namo Namah Kali Kali Mahamata Namo Kalike, Nomo Namah Durga Durga Mahamaya Namo Durgaya, Namo Namah See, they can be very simple, but when chanted over and over can take you to a place of oneness, bliss, etc. Another thing about bhajans that is different from other chanting I have studied is that they start off slowly and then gradually speed up ... then they slow down again to end. Jai Maa ~ Linda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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