Kirtan in the context of Indian harmonium

Hindu music is music created for or influenced by Hinduism. It includes Indian classical music, Kirtan, Bhajan and other musical genres. Raagas are a common form of Hindu music in classical India.

The most common Hindu bhajan in North India is "Om Jai Jagdish Hare." The names of Gods are religiously chanted, often including Vishnu and his incarnations, Shiva and the Goddess (Parvati, Shakti, Vaishnodevi).

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Bengali: মহাপ্রভু শ্রীচৈতন্য দেব; Sanskrit: चैतन्य महाप्रभु, romanized: Caitanya Mahāprabhu), born Vishvambhara Mishra (IAST: Viśvambhara Miśra) (18 February 1486 – 14 June 1534), was an Indian Hindu saint from Bengal and the founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's mode of worshipping Krishna with bhajan-kirtan and dance had a profound effect on Vaishnavism in Bengal.

He is considered the chief proponent of the Vedantic philosophy of Achintya Bheda Abheda. The concept of inconceivable difference in non-difference, known as achintya-bhedabheda, was explained later by Jiva Gosvami in his book Bhagavat Sandharbha, and in his Sarva-samvadini.

A tabla is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments and vocals, or as a part of larger ensembles. It is frequently played in popular and folk music performances in India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The tabla is an essential instrument in the bhakti devotional traditions of Hinduism and Sikhism, such as during bhajan and kirtan singing. It is one of the main qawwali instruments used by Sufi musicians. The instrument is also featured in dance performances such as Kathak. Tabla is a rhythmic instrument.

The word tabla likely comes from tabl, the Arabic word for drum. The ultimate origin of the musical instrument is contested by scholars, though earliest evidence trace its evolution from indigenous musical instruments of the Indian subcontinent; drums like structure is mentioned in Vedic-era texts.

In Hinduism, the yatra (pilgrimage) to the tirthas (sacred places) has special significance for earning the punya (spiritual merit) needed to attain the moksha (salvation) by performing the darśana (viewing of deity), the parikrama (circumambulation), the yajna (sacrificial fire offering), the Dhyana (spiritual contemplation), the puja (worship), the prarthana (prayer, which could be in the form of mantra - sacred chants, bhajan - prayer singing, or kirtan - collective musical prayer performance), the dakshina (alms and donation for worthy cause), the seva (selfless service towards community, devotees or temple), the bhandara (running volunteer community kitchen for pilgrims), etc. These sacred places are usually located on the banks of sacred waters, such as sacred rivers or their tributaries (among the rigvedic rivers of sapta sindhu the trio ganges-yamuna-saraswati are considered most sacred), the kundas (pond or lake, among these the Lake Manasarovar is considered most scared), the ghats (water bodies with stairs such as Ghats in Varanasi), or the stepwells (among these the rani ki vav in the form of inverted temple is considered most spectacular), or the temple tanks.

In India there are 7 Sapta Puri holy cities, 4 Dhams (Char Dham) and 12 Jyotirlings devoted to the Lord Shiva, 51 Shakti Pithas devoted to the feminine manifestation of the god, the eight swayambhu Vishnu temples (Badrinath, Naimisharanya, Saligram Muktinath, Srimushnam, Tiruchirappalli, Tirupati, Nanguneri, Pushkar) and the important Lord Rama circuit (Ayodhya, Chitrakoot, Hampi and Rameswaram) and Lord Krishna circuit (Braj, Kurukshetra and Dwarka).