Strobe lights flashing, music you can feel in your bones and bodies moving together as a collective – this is the typical scene at any club in the pub city of India. However, at bhajan clubbing events catching on in the city’s concert halls, malls and grounds, you’re likely to hear Raghu Pathi Raghava Raja Ram or the Hanuman Chalisa instead set to the same energising energy. “Bhajans are all about surrendering and devoting yourself to the Almighty. And at its core, clubbing is similar as it helps let loose. We are trying to bring both these traditions together,” says Soumya Ranjan, founder of Desi Clans, which organises bhajan clubbing events in the city.
For 28-year-old Preeti Choudhary, an operations lead, who grew up in a home where bhajans were a constant, these events came as a surprise. “I’m used to satsangs. Seeing someone holding an electric guitar and chanting Hare Krishna was completely new,” she laughs. For a young crowd that lives a stress-filled life and uses clubbing as an outlet, Choudhary adds that bhajan clubbing brings an added layer of catharsis, saying, “We find an escape in clubbing and then the next day, have to deal with a hangover. But here, I feel people like bhajan clubbing because the nervous system just calms down and you don’t end up with a hangover later.”
Even those who didn’t always have a deep-rooted relationship with devotional music or religion, like influencer-photographer Vandana Rout, have found something to enjoy in it. “My friends and I decided to attend because we were seeing it all over Instagram and were curious,” she says. But once there, the mood drew her in. “What stood out for me was so many like-minded people singing together. You can feel the energy and that’s really overwhelming. Even when I got home, I was still singing the bhajans,” she explains.
The crowds at these events are mostly youth, but it’s common to see kids, middle-aged people, and elderly people, too. Jatin Mathur, a member of the band Rahasya – The Musical Project, which is set to perform at a bhajan clubbing event being held at Orion Mall on June 27, shares, “We take bhajans and combine them w ith rock, pop music, some even have a jazz sound. That’s how people started following us, wanting to attend our concerts, and that’s how we started bhajan clubbing.”
While these events have become a regular nightlife fixture in northern parts of the country since late last year, Bengaluru has been a bit slow to catch on, notes Ranjan, attributing this to a lack of performers familiar with the style of music bhajan clubbing needs, saying, “We want to have a separate vibe compared to normal bhajan events, else, the essence of bhajan clubbing won’t come through. We look for people with a bit of rock influence, a powerful voice and stage presence to engage with people. As it’s a new segment, very few artistes are available in this space and they’re much more in the north.”
For performers like Mathur, whose group is based in Delhi, and others who come down south to perform at these events, the language barrier poses a challenge, which he says contributes to the slow spread. He shares, “It’s hard to connect with the essence of the bhajan when it’s in a different language and people prefer bhajans from their own culture,” he shares, adding that they’ve started including a few ‘South Indian bhajans and devotional Bollywood songs like O Paalanhaare from Lagaan.'
What’s next for this devotional dance movement? Choudhary hopes that it is not a passing trend, while Ranjan is optimistic that this will only grow, even as the city remains spoiled for choice in its nightlife