Gems of Gurbani

Guru Granth Sahib

Kirtan Sohila 1

 Sohila is traditionally an art of singing that women sing for a bride to be. All the women relatives gather at the home of bride to be and oil the girls hair ceremonially all the while singing songs, then she is given a bath and at night women folk gather and sing songs called suhag or sohalada. These songs are mixture of happiness and pain of departure of one of the family members. Guru Nanak has taken the background of this tradition and created an atmosphere to create his composition to appeal to the Almighty. In his composition the mortal being is a bride who is given instructions to join a satsung (house atmosphere of the bride to be where song are being sung and instructions and blessings showered on bride that after her departure how she shall unite with her husband to be) and depart this world to unite with her husband (God). In Gurmat the praises of Lord ‘Kirat’ is usually sung in several ragas and their consorts the raginis. This ‘Kirat’ is usually done in sehaj form that means no loud appeal to hype emotions or going into trance that happened with most sufis or bhaktas who not only went into trance themselves but indulged in evoking that kind atmosphere that other devout followed. Gurmat or Sikhism strictly prohibits this kind of ‘Kirat’ so Gurus themselves evolved a tradition of singing ‘kirat’ of Almighty Lord and all their Bani is recorded in Guru Granth Sahib only in those ragas that helps to keep you at a level where understanding is maintained and contemplation is not forgotten. Contemplation on various attributes of Lord like in Mulmantra shall remain in focus so that we shall never forget that Almighty is One and there is no other like Him. The mulmantra is the basic foundation or truth and that says; Ek Onkar, Karta, Purukh, Nirbhau, Nirvair, Akal, Murat Ajuni, Saibhang, Gur, Prasad. Kirat or praises that we sing for the Lord with all the above attributes is Kirtan when it is joined with celestial music. We conclude our day by singing these praises so the term Kirtan Sohila.