

In addition, many members of the congregation (sangat), including children, will also lead the shabad.

Transcending the music, Sikhs aspire to hear the anahad shabad, or the “unstruck melody,” which is beyond the range of ear and mind, but is produced by God and heard by the soul.ĭuring the gurdwara program, the appointed reader of the Guru Granth Sahib, called the granthi, may sing the hymns, as will the ragis, or trained Sikh musicians. For this reason, all Sikhs, even in the United States, make an effort to teach their children Punjabi so that they may sing the hymns, feel their resonance and beauty, and most importantly, understand their meaning. The poetry of the Guru Granth Sahib is, for the most part, in Punjabi. When Guru Arjan arranged the Adi Granth, he ordered its 31 sections according to musical raga. All of the shabads contained in the Guru Granth Sahib are set to particular traditional musical scales called ragas, each meant to be played at a particular time of day or to evoke a particular mood. The full spirit and power of the word is in the singing of it. The Guru Granth Sahib is poetry, and its poetry is sung. There are also famous and beloved hymns composed by the Sikh savants Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Nand Lal, always favorites in the singing of kirtan. They are gurbani, the hymns of the Gurus, or bhagatbani, the hymns of the saints. Most of the hymns, called shabads, are from the Guru Granth Sahib. Usually, they sing to the accompaniment of an accordion-style harmonium. Men and women, young and old, learn to sing the divine word, individually and congregationally. Kirtan means “singing the praises of God.” In Glen Rock, New Jersey, as in gurdwaras throughout the world, there is no more important component of the life of the gathered community than kirtan.
