Sacred Songs of the Sikhs
Nina Robinson investigates the resurgence of Kirtan, an ancient form of Sikh worship, amongst the YouTube generation.
The YouTube generation are re-inventing Kirtan, an ancient form of Sikh worship.
Kirtan, the devotional singing of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, has traditionally been accompanied by tabla or harmonium. Today, a new generation of Sikhs are uploading their own style of Kirtan to the global diaspora.
Nina Robinson meets Kirtan artists Manika Kaur from Dubai and Violinder from San Francisco. With millions of views on their respective YouTube channels, these musicians are pushing boundaries, fusing Kirtan with electronic soundscapes. Manika Kaur believes by providing English translations to her videos, she is reaching many more young Sikhs with the words of the Guru as written in the ancient texts.
In India, Nina visits the Golden Temple in Amritsar, one of Sikhism鈥檚 holiest gurdwaras. She meets one of the temple鈥檚 official Kirtaniyas, Bhai Nirmal Singh. Bhai Nirmal argues the words of the Guru should not be experimented. He believes fusing Kirtan with contemporary music production techniques is at odds with the true message of Sikhism.
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Clips
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The Sikh millennials remixing their sacred songs
Duration: 03:25
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Kirtan - the sound of Sikhism
Duration: 02:04
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- Sat 29 Jul 2017 19:32GMT成人快手 World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
- Sun 30 Jul 2017 07:32GMT成人快手 World Service West and Central Africa
- Sun 30 Jul 2017 08:32GMT成人快手 World Service except News Internet & West and Central Africa
- Sun 30 Jul 2017 21:32GMT成人快手 World Service except East and Southern Africa, News Internet & West and Central Africa
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Heart and Soul
Personal approaches to religious belief from around the world.