GLOBAL KIRTAN
Our story

Built from the circle
- for the circle.

The Global Kirtan App was born to serve the Global Kirtan community. A kīrtana-maṇḍalī is a circle or community dedicated to kirtan. When we form a kirtan circle and transform through sacred sound, we become whole and united by divine grace beyond denominations like race, belief and institution.

We're building the platform we wished we had — a single place to find a kirtan happening tonight, pre-listen and learn chants on the way there, and have event-tailored lyrics sequences with translations ready once you arrive.

More about our story

From Gap to App

The Global Kirtan app story started during a discussion of two creative kirtan friends – Madhav and Arjuna. We were discussing gaps and pain points on our kirtan journey. We've all been there. We fell in love with a particular kirtan or bhajan. Couldn't wait to get home to learn it. But then came the first hurdle. Finding the right lyrics and translations scattered across countless websites.

"I wish I had an app that takes care of it all – lyrics and translations!"

The Global Kirtan App was created to fill this gap, and further offers event-tailored kirtan lyrics sequences that can be shared via QR code. No more searching and fumbling during kirtans. Just dive in.

"Now imagine, if each chant could come with recordings and tutorials!"

Voila! We added that too.

When we went to new places, it was a challenge to find sacred sound events for a particular time in various WhatsApp and Facebook groups.

"What if we could just open a map and calendar and see all events and communities?"

This was the birth hour of the Events tool, allowing you to discover and list sacred sound and kirtan events and communities on our map and calendar. It is an offering from the community for the community. And thus we came full circle - from gap to app.

Vision & mission
Vision

Connecting hearts and facilitating celebration & transformation through sacred sound.

Mission

Creating a home where seekers, artists and communities can discover and share events, offerings and education in the art of kirtan & sound healing.

What we stand for

Community-first

Global Kirtan is primarily a community serving the global kirtan community. It is built with input from the sacred sound community members who actually show up — artists, facilitators and seekers — not built to maximize screen time.

Unity in diversity

Global Kirtan brings together the rich diversity of kirtan and sacred sound traditions under one roof. We welcome all nonviolent schools, lineages, and communities, creating space for respectful co-inspiration, collective celebration and shared devotion.

Ad-free

No banners, no interruptions between mantras. Support comes from the community, not advertisers.*

> learn how you can support

* This applies to in-house tracks. For the tracks we stream from YouTube, your own YouTube ad settings apply.

AI-free

We offer an AI-off button for audio content. Kirtan playlists are curated by real practitioners - not generated or algorithmically pushed. We don't object to AI for certain workflows, but for recordings we prefer organic offerings of souls, not machines.

Core team

Two voices from the circle.

Radhamadhav Das

Radhamadhav Das

Co-founder

A major question in my life was: how can I unite my love for music with my inner calling for the Divine? In kirtan, I found their union.

Born and educated in Switzerland, I've cherished spending over two decades in India, where I served the global kirtan community through singing, playing mridanga and guitar, and guiding yoga tours, and where I was personally trained by various luminaries of kirtan.

I travelled across India with Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj as his assistant and disciple. Dr. Fakir Mohan Das guided me towards my PhD in philosophy, and Aindra Das mentored me in Vrindavan. The foundations of classical Indian singing and Nada Yoga were planted into my heart by Pandit Chhannulal Mishra and Anandra George.

Already in my youth, the calming and transformative effect of sacred sound carried me through very difficult periods. My inspiration is that Global Kirtan will provide better access to that path of healing, self-regulation and spiritual transformation.

Arjuna van der Kooij

Co-founder

I came to bhakti as a student of culture, and stayed as a practitioner.

I met the bhakti tradition while studying Cultural Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam in the early 1990s. That interest in bhakti-yoga and mantra meditation led me to India, where I met my mentor, Srila Bhakti Pramode Puri Maharaj, then 97 years old, and lived in his ashram for several years.

My love for kirtan and sacred sound deepened under Srila Bhakti Ballabh Tirtha Maharaj, which led me to compile the songbook Gaudiya Kirtan, published by Mandala Publishing — for whom I have since worked as an editor and written Doorway to Eternity and Myths of the Asanas. I organise yearly kirtan retreats and pilgrimages to India.

I believe sacred sound and kirtan are among the most wholesome practices for bringing fulfilment to spiritual life. I want Global Kirtan to put them within easy reach of a growing global community.

Connect · Chant · Transform

One home for sacred sound

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