A bhajan literally means "sharing". It also refers to any song with religious theme or spiritual ideas, in a regional languages from the Indian subcontinent. As a bhajan has no prescribed form, or set rules, it is in free form, normally lyrical and based on melodic ragas. It belongs to a genre of music and arts that developed with the Bhakti movement. It is found in the various traditions of Hinduism but particularly in Vaishnavism. It is also found in Jainism. Ideas from scriptures, legendary epics, the teachings of saints and loving devotion to a deity are the typical subjects of bhajans. It is usually a group event, with one or more lead singers, accompanied with music, and sometimes dancing. A bhajan may be sung in a temple, in a home, under a tree in open, near a river bank or a place of historic significance.
The saints of the Bhakti movement are credited with pioneering many forms of bhajans, aarti, Hanuman Chalisa