The rise of bhajan clubbing: How young India is reimagining spirituality

Rehmat Khubchandani’s hands are up. She lets retired a delighted ‘oohoo’ arsenic she emerges from the crowd. The euphony is upbeat, with a club-style energy, but the opus is simply a bhajan. Around, immoderate women dance, portion the ones who enactment seated clap, with their eyes closed.

“I person ne'er experienced thing similar this,” gushes Rehmat, adjacent arsenic she catches her enactment from the dancing, “It feels similar a party, but with vibes that link you with up there.” She points upwards towards the heavens. She – on with galore members of the Good Deeds Club successful Chennai, curated by Apsara Reddy – has conscionable experienced the latest viral trend: ‘bhajan clubbing’.

Track record

Introducing a nighttime club-like atmosphere, minus the alcohol, bhajan clubbing is catching connected successful galore Indian cities, including Delhi, Kolkata and Bengaluru, arsenic good arsenic the US. Participants skew towards Gen-Z, who bask the consciousness of assemblage it brings, a satellite distant from the lonely endless scroll of societal media.

“It is similar entering a satellite of trance,” explains Mandira Bansal, “It mightiness beryllium a Gen-Z concept, but it’s wonderful. Why other would we beryllium swaying to such tracks?” Mandira has conscionable shaken a limb to a high-energy show of ‘Dama Dam Mast Qalandar’, a spiritual Sufi qawwali. There are galore different spiritual tracks – including immoderate celebrating gods similar Shiva, Rama and Muruga – but the temper is precise antithetic from erstwhile these are traditionally sung successful places of worship.

While bands similar Backstage Siblings and Keshavam are getting fashionable for this benignant of concerts, Chennai singers are not acold behind. Take Sai Vignesh, a classically-trained vocalist whose rendition of ‘Varaha Roopam’ (Kantara) is making an impact. Along with vocalist Saindhavi, Sai Vignesh’s renditions of bhajans and Sufi chants has the assemblage connected its feet. “I person been singing bhajans for years, but the connection bhajan clubbing volition instrumentality immoderate clip to get utilized to,” helium smiles, “You don’t adjacent request to cognize the afloat bhajan to bask this. The main motto is to marque radical travel together.”

Here, spirituality is astir transportation and celebration. This is simply a caller connection of devotion, and it is amplified acknowledgment to societal media reels and posts – everyone enjoys spreading the connection astir a bully party.

“We grew up listening to bhajans, but the existent procreation mightiness not beryllium excessively exposed to these tracks,” says Saindhavi, fashionable for some her deed movie tracks and classical concerts, “Now, they are packaged wrong a antithetic soundscape, but the divinity is inactive the same.”