Kirtans & Banis

ਜਪੁ ਜੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ

The opening composition of the Guru Granth Sahib and the cornerstone of Sikh thought — recited every morning.

ਜਾਪੁ ਸਾਹਿਬ

Guru Gobind Singh's hymn of the Names of the Divine — a drumbeat of praise recited each morning after Japji.

ਤ੍ਵ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ਸਵਯੇ (ਸ੍ਰਾਵਗ ਸੁਧ)

Ten quatrains that sweep aside empty ritual and declare: without love of the One, nothing avails.

ਬੇਨਤੀ ਚੌਪਈ ਸਾਹਿਬ

A supplication in four-line verses for protection and right action — recited morning and evening.

ਅਨੰਦੁ ਸਾਹਿਬ

The “Song of Bliss” — forty stanzas on the joy of meeting the Guru, sung at every Sikh celebration.

ਰਹਰਾਸਿ ਸਾਹਿਬ (ਸ:)

The evening prayer — hymns of gratitude and protection gathered from the Gurus, recited at sunset.

ਸੋਹਿਲਾ ਸਾਹਿਬ

The bedtime prayer, also sung at cremation — five shabads turning the heart to the One Light before rest.

ਸੁਖਮਨੀ ਸਾਹਿਬ

The “Jewel of Peace” — twenty-four cantos on the calm that flows from remembering the Name.

ਆਸਾ ਕੀ ਵਾਰ

The morning “Ballad in Raag Asa” — sung as kirtan at dawn in gurdwaras worldwide.

ਬਾਵਨ ਅਖਰੀ

The “fifty-two letters” — an acrostic of wisdom, each stanza opening with a successive letter.

ਸਿਧ ਗੋਸਟਿ

“Discourse with the Siddhas” — Guru Nanak's recorded debate with the mountain yogis on the true path.

ਓਅੰਕਾਰੁ

A meditation opening with “Oankaar” — from the One sound, all creation came forth.

ਬਾਰਹ ਮਾਹਾ

The “Song of Twelve Months” — the soul-bride's year-long longing for union with the Beloved.

ਸ਼ਬਦ ਹਜ਼ਾਰੇ

“A thousand hymns in one” — shabads of aching longing for the sight of the Guru.

ਸਲੋਕ ਮਹਲਾ ੯

Fifty-seven couplets of the ninth Guru near the close of the Granth — on detachment and even-mindedness.

ਰਾਮਕਲੀ ਸਦੁ

“The Call” — a serene account of Guru Amar Das's passing and his last teaching on death.

ਅਲਾਹਣੀਆ (ਸੋਗ ਦਾ ਗੀਤ)

“Songs of mourning” — funeral dirges remade into hymns of acceptance and hope.

ਅਕਾਲ ਉਸਤਤ

“Praise of the Timeless One” — a sweeping hymn to the deathless Divine beyond all division.

ਤ੍ਵ ਪ੍ਰਸਾਦਿ ਸ੍ਵਯੇ (ਦੀਨਨ ਕੀ)

Savaiyye on the shelter of the humble — the Divine as protector of the lowly and meek.

ਚੰਡੀ ਦੀ ਵਾਰ

“The Ballad of Chandi” — a stirring war-ballad whose opening line begins the Sikh Ardaas.

ਸ਼ਬਦ ਹਜ਼ਾਰੇ ਪਾਤਿਸ਼ਾਹੀ ੧੦

Ten shabads of the tenth Guru — including “Mitra pyare nu,” the cry of love sung in separation.

ਲਾਵਾਂ (ਅਨੰਦ ਕਾਰਜ)

The four hymns of Anand Karaj — and the soul's four rounds toward union with the Divine.

ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਦੇ ਪਾਠ ਦਾ ਭੋਗ (ਮੁੰਦਾਵਣੀ)

“The Seal” — Guru Arjan's closing of the Granth: a platter set with truth, contentment and contemplation.

ਸ੍ਰੀ ਗੁਰੂ ਗ੍ਰੰਥ ਸਾਹਿਬ ਦੇ ਪਾਠ ਦਾ ਭੋਗ (ਰਾਗਮਾਲਾ)

“The garland of ragas” — the final page, naming the family of musical modes of the Granth.

ਆਰਤੀ

The Sikh aarti — not lamps and incense, but the whole cosmos worshipping the One.

ਅਰਦਾਸ

The standing supplication of the Sikhs — remembering the Gurus and martyrs, and asking grace for all.

ਸਲੋਕੁ ਸੇਖ ਫਰੀਦ ਕੇ

The couplets of the Sufi saint Baba Farid, lovingly preserved within the Guru Granth Sahib.

ਅਨੰਦੁ ਸਾਹਿਬ (੬ ਪਉੜੀਆਂ ਅਤੇ ਸਲੋਕੁ)

The short Anand Sahib — the first five stanzas and the closing fortieth — sung to conclude most Sikh ceremonies.

ਰਹਰਾਸਿ ਸਾਹਿਬ (ਟ:)

The longer evening Rehras kept in the Taksali and many Nihang traditions — with additional shabads and Dasam Granth verses.

ਵੱਡੀ ਆਰਤੀ

The extended Aarti–Aarta — a fuller arrangement of the worship hymns sung in many gurdwaras.