A bhajan literally means "sharing". It also refers to any
song with religious theme or spiritual ideas, in a regional
languages from the Indian subcontinent. As a bhajan has
no prescribed form, or set rules, it is in free form, normally
lyrical and based on melodic ragas. It belongs to a genre of
music and arts that developed with the Bhakti movement.
It is found in the various traditions of Hinduism but
particularly in Vaishnavism. It is also found in Jainism. Ideas
from scriptures, legendary epics, the teachings of saints and
loving devotion to a deity are the typical subjects of bhajans.
It is usually a group event, with one or more lead singers,
accompanied with music, and sometimes dancing. A bhajan
may be sung in a temple, in a home, under a tree in open,
near a river bank or a place of historic significance.
The saints of the Bhakti movement are credited with
pioneering many forms of bhajans, aarti, Hanuman Chalisa.