Bibliography on Bhajans and Devotional Songs

Contributed by Jennifer B. Saunders, Denison University

NB These items do not include what appears in the "Religion and Music in South Asia" bibliography in the RISA archives.

Singer, Milton. "The Radha-Krishna Bhajanas of Madras City." in Krishna: Myths, Rites, and Attitudes, edited by Milton Singer (pp. 90-138). Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press,1966.

McDermott, Rachel Fell. Singing to the Goddess.  NY: OUP, 2000.

Kelting, M. Whitney. Singing to the Jinas: Jain Laywomen, Mandal Singing, and the Negotiations of Jain Devotion. NY: OUP, 2001.

Mallison, Francoise. "From Folklore to Devotion: Dhol Songs in Gujarat." in Living Texts from India, edited by Richard K. Barz and Monika Theil-Horstmann (pp. 87-102). Weisbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1989.

Flueckiger, Joyce Burkhalter. Gender and Genre in the Folklore of Middle India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Johnsen, Linda and Maggie Jacobus. Kirtan!: Chanting As a Spiritual Path. St. Paul, MN: Yes International Publishers, 2007.

five volumes of *Bhajanamritam: Devotional Songs of Mata Amritanandamayi* (available from www.amma.org)

Pintchman, Tracy. Guests at God's Wedding. (SUNY Press, 1995)

http://kirtans.blogspot.com/

Shukla-Bhatt, Neelima. Nectar of devotion : Bhakti-rasa in the tradition of Gujurati saint-poet Narasinha Mehta. Thesis (Ph. D., Committee on the Study of Religion)--Harvard University, 2003.

Thompson, Gordon Ross. Music and values in Gujarati-speaking western India. Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of California, Los Angeles, 1987.

ADDENDA

A. The Journal of Vaishnava Studies has several issues whose themes intersect with bhajan and kirtana, specifically:
  "The Power of the Holy Name" (Vol. 2, No. 2, Spring 1994).
  "Vaisnava Music," guest editor, Guy Beck (Vol. 4, No. 2, Spring 1996).
  "Vaisnava Poetry" (Vol. 4, No. 4, Spring 1996).
  Some articles in other issues (partial list):
  Vasudha Narayanan, "The 'Sacred Utterance' of the Silent Seer" in Vol. 2, No. 1, Winter 1993.
  Guy Beck, "Haveli Sangit: Music in the Vallabha Tradition" in Vol. 1, No. 4, Summer 1993.

[Available on CD-ROM as: Journal of Vaishnava Studies: 10th Anniversary Collection, Volumes 1-10 (1992-2002) CD-ROM Publication, Hampton, VA: Deepak Heritage Books, 2005. (More recent individual volumes are available either from Steve Rosen or Deepak Heritage Books.)]

B. See also the forthcoming book:

  Hess, Linda. Singing Emptiness:  Kumar Gandharva and Kabir.  Calcutta: Seagull Books, forthcoming April 2008.

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Revised: July 30, 2007