Introduction of Kirtan

 In India, people have been singing about Rama, Krishna, Govinda etc in their local languages or in Sanskrit for millennium.

In the early 1500's, kirtan was introduced by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as the recommended spiritual path for the present age. Up until that time mantras were chanted to a meter at Vedic ceremonies, but the particular stressing of the importance of combining mantras with music as the most recommended spiritual discipline for our current times, is due to Chaitanya

  Chanitanya Mahaprabhu

He promoted singing mantras with Indian musical instruments, particularly the khola (mridanga drum) and karatals (brass hand cymbals). Initially there was some resistance from caste brahmanas, the established priestly class. But Chaitanya from the age of 15,he had already defeated in debate the greatest Pandit ('pundit' - scholar) and he was already known as the most erudite and knowledgeable person of his era. He explained on many different levels the benefits of chanting kirtan. Around the world, kirtan was first introduced by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada -the founder of ISKCON - from 1965

Kirtan is a Sanskrit word.The meaning of Kirtan is 'to chant', or it refers to 'the process of chanting', and it includes a sense of 'repeating', 'describing', and 'glorifying'. Specifically, it refers to the glorification of the Supreme. The readers will doubtlessly be familiar with other Sanskrit words such as yoga, Avatar, mantra, guru, and karma which are in use worldwide. In the coming years, we can expect 'kirtan' will become another word that will be more familiar in general usage.