In a growing movement in India, young people have opted to trade alcohol and house music for chai and devotional music. Bhajan clubbing has brought Hindu tradition to the dance floor, providing a sober and spiritual nightlife experience. The trend reflects a collective desire for community and belonging in an increasingly uncertain world.
Devotion on the dance floor
Bhajans are a form of “devotional singing performed in temples, religious processions and community spaces across India,” said CNN. These centuries-old Hindu hymns have gotten a revamp all across India, as there has been a rise in “ticketed events held in large venues, complete with smoke machines, giant LED screens and the kind of production usually associated with clubbing and concerts.” The events are free of drugs and alcohol but still allow people to “come with their friends, dress up, sing loudly, clap, laugh,” Prachi Agarwal of the bhajan jamming group Backstage Siblings, said The Times of India.
The new trend is a way for Gen Z to engage with spirituality on their own terms. “Practices once tied to family or community structures are now approached almost like creative disciplines: something to explore, test, remix and personalize,” said Vogue India. Bhajan clubbing is “another iteration of the ‘sober curious’ events or ‘coffee raves’ that are growing in popularity in Europe and America,” said CNN.
Today’s social climate is likely the reason for Gen Z’s rise in spirituality. Living “under conditions of climate anxiety, economic precarity, digital hypervisibility and constant comparison, the desire for grounding is hardly surprising,” said Vogue India. “Ritual and collective chanting offer a shared moment of grounding,” Meghna Siraj, the founder of the wellness initiative Megh and co-creator of the devotional music collective Kirtan Mumbai, said to Vogue India. “When hundreds of voices chant together, the mind quiets and a natural sense of belonging emerges.”
Spiritual split
Critics of bhajan clubbing claim that it “raises uncomfortable questions about the commercialization of faith,” said The Indian Sun. For those who grew up with the faith, turning “devotion into a party and calling it clubbing could be disrespectful, hurt certain sentiments and dilute the whole objective,” Nirvaan Birla, the founder of Sounds for the Soul and managing director of Birla Open Minds, said to Vogue India. The rise of Gen Z spirituality has “unfolded against the backdrop of a broader political shift in India, where Hindu symbolism and religious identity have become increasingly visible in public life,” said CNN.
Despite the criticism, supporters argue that the “gatherings represent a form of devotion untethered from rigid rituals and the gatekeeping normally associated with temples or religious processions,” said CNN. Bhajan clubbing “reflects a deeper yearning for meaning, belonging and well-being,” said The Economic Times. “Rather than rejecting Indian tradition, Gen Z is reshaping it in an innovative format.”