Marathi Keertan

In Indian mythology, the story of Bhakta Prahlad is famous for the uninterrupted devotion of a small child towards the almighty God, despite the obstacles created by his own father demon Hiranyakashipu.

The relevant shloka[4] says, Shrawanam keertanam vishnoh smaranam padsevanam | Archanam vandanam dasyam sakhyam atmanivedanam || Meaning -There are 9 types (stages) of "Bhakti" or ways of devotion.

The second type namely, "Keertan or Kirtan" as is called is performing art of presenting sayings from old good books and mythological literature along with a tint of music, dance, humor, etc.

[5] or "Naradiya Kirtan" an age old form of devotion, admire of gods and godly acts, glorification of the almighty, and also a tool used by the performers to keep people updated on the world out of their towns and also to educate the masses about good values of life and very purpose of human life, through a medium of "ONE MAN SHOW" consisting of prose and musical performance given at the temples and other holy places.

However, by convention and as an age-old practice and tradition, men wear The performer has accomplished musical instruments like harmonium, drums, and string instruments of various types mostly "Zanz", "chipali", "Tal" or "Chimata".The performer needs to study a lot of things in literature, music dance, humor, and acting.

A lot of reading, the practice of debating, musical training, sound memory, and all-around knowledge only can make a good performer in Keertan.

There are some institutes offering the training in Keertan apart from individual schools and coaching classes in small towns all over India.

Marathi Naradiya keertan is taught at the following locations in its formal traditional way: There are also some smaller schools at Goa, Beed and Ujjain.

It accepts saying from great authors all over the world, if they suit their subject under consideration as to prove the principle or spiritual lessons.

Having taken inspiration from Indian freedom fighter Lokmanya Tilak, a medical practitioner from a small town of Wai-district Satara shri Dattopant Patwardhan, left his profession and became the pioneer of this form of Naradiya Keertan.

In modern times, stories of great scientists, warriors, freedom fighters and social reformers National leaders, battles fought, etc.

Here the format is like Naradiya Keertan, only difference is it is based on poetry by Samarth Ramdas, and mostly the stories selected are from "Ramayana".

This form was effectively performed for years by personalities like "Hari Bhakti Parayan" (sincere devotee of god) Sonopant (mama) Dandekar, Dhunda maharaj Deglurkar, Babamaharaj Satarkar, Dekhanebuwa, and many others in modern times.