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Pranaam!

Welcome to International Sanatan Bhakti Sangeet Competition (ISBSC)!

What is Sanatan Bhakti Sangeet?

Simply speaking, Sanatan Bhakti Sangeet is an all encompassing genre used to refer to any devotional music forms indigenous to Bharat’s Sanatani heritage, i.e. directed towards Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain and other inherent Sanatan (eternal) indigenous Ishwars, Bhagwans, Devtas, Devis etc. such as but not limited to Shri Brahma, Shri Vishnu, Shri Shiv, Shri Rama, Shri Krishna, Durga Mata, Lakshmi Mata, Saraswati Mata, Gayatri Mata and other Devis, Sikh Gurus (the ten Gurus from Shri Guru Nanak to Shri Guru Govind Singh), Jain Tirthankars (Bhagwan Shri Mahavir and others) etc., composed and sung in any of the indigenous Bharteey languages from North, South, East, West or Central regions of Bharat such as but not limited to Sanskrit, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Marathi, Khadi Boli, Bhojpuri, Maithili, Odiya, Bangla, Assamese, Manipuri, Chhattisgarhi, Telugu, Kannada, Malayali, Tamil or any other indigenous language native to or evolved from native Bharteey languages.

What are the various Categories under which the competition will be judged?

Historically and traditionally, Sanatan Bhakti Sangeet has several forms in different regions across Bharat. However, for the purpose of simplifying this competition, it has been divided into the two basic Categories based on the two universally accepted Indian Classical Music Systems :

1. Hindustani (North Indian – Uttar Bharteeya)

Indigenous Sanatani music from anywhere in India except Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pudducherri.

and

2. Carnatic (South Indian – Dakshin Bharteeya)

Indigenous Sanatani music from Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Pudducherri.

It is important to note that the language of rendering is irrelevant in this classification and emphasis is given to the system for determining the basic Category. i.e. if a Bhakti Geet is sung in Hindi but composed in Carnatic system, it will be entered under the Carnatic category. Similarly, if a Bhakti Geet is sung in Tamil, but composed in North Indian system, it will be entered under Hindustani category. Judges’ decision as to which basic system the entry belongs to will be final and binding.

The above two (Hindustani and Carnatic) Categories will be judged under three Sub-Categories each :

a. Original

b. Traditional

c. Cover

A brief description of the Sub-Categories is as follows :

a. Original : 

Any song that is the entrant’s own original composition, to which the entrant owns all rights (intellectual, music and performance rights), will be treated as original entry. The song can be released or unreleased. If released under a label, the entrant must be prepared to submit a letter from the Record label permitting the entrant to submit the song as his/her own.

b. Traditional : 

Any traditional Sanatani devotional song that does not have a known creator and has been passed down the generations as traditional music that is in public domain and whose intellectual, musical or performing rights are not owned by anyone – such as but not limited to Folk devotional songs, Aartis, Stutis, Shlokas, etc. will be considered under Traditional Sub-Category. If the submitted Traditional song is a released or unreleased commercial recording, the entrant must hold all rights, or have the permission from their Record label to submit the song as their own.

c. Cover : 

Any song that is a re-rendering of an already released Original or Traditional song, to which the entrant holds no rights, will be considered a Cover song. i.e. ‘Aisi Laagi Lagan’ by Anup Jalota ji.

Thus, the competition will be judged under 6 distinct Categories :

1a. Hindustani (North Indian/Uttar Bharteeya) Original Song

2a. Carnatic (South Indian/Dakshin Bharteeya) Original Song

1b. Hindustani (North Indian//Uttar Bharteeya) Traditional Song

2b. Carnatic (South Indian/Dakshin Bharteeya) Traditional Song

1c. Hindustani (North Indian//Uttar Bharteeya) Cover Song

2c. Carnatic (South Indian/Dakshin Bharteeya) Cover Song