Devotional music connects you to God. In Punjab, devotional music is also known as Shabad which means “word”. Shabad is a style or form of bhajan. These songs are more popular among Sikhs in the form of Shabad and among Hindus it is well known by the name of bhajan.

About Shabad

Shabad is mainly drawn from the Guru Granth Sahib, a holy book of Sikhs. Shabad is also referred as Gurbani. Gurbani means the message of the teacher. The values of the Shabad and its connection to religious expansion are tremendously complicated. It is said that it takes a marvelous quantity of study, dedication and meditation to really appreciate the implication of the Gurbani. That is why, it is said to indulge your hands with the infinite qualities of God.

Till today, the Shabad is performed in very customary styles.  Guru Granth Sahib detailed various ragas and different shabads are also sung in raag form. These forms are traditional and classical.

The belief of a Shabad and its relationship with spirituality is divine and sophisticated.

Instruments

Commonly used instruments in devotional music are Chimta, Dhad, Dholak, Dilruba, Harmonium, Rabad, Santoor, Shehnai, tabla and many more.

The chimpta in reality is a fire tong. However, it has developed into a musical instrument by adding small nerve jingles to it. This gadget is particularly accepted in Punjabi devotional music and in the Sikh religious for the purpose of Shabad.

Shehnai is a wind instrument and used to bring good luck and auspiciousness to weddings and processions. It is commonly used in North India.

Dhad is a device which is very similar to the damru. It is so similar to damru in structure that it is wrong to call it anything else. The main difference in both is that damru has two knotted chords, while a dhad does not have that. However, the method of playing, communal significance and musical capabilities of both instruments vary greatly.

Dholak is another popular instrument of northern India. It is a barrel-shaped gadget used in Shabad.

Tabla is the main instrument used in Shabads. It is a pair of drums. It has a small right hand drum which is called as Dayan and the larger one is called Bayan.

Santur is the instrument originated from Kashmir and played throughout north India. It is a box like instrument struck with light wooden mallets. It is said that this helps in meditation and helps in connecting with God in shabads.