Meera Bhajans: Devotional Music Legacy of Chittorgarh

Chittorgarh was the home of Meerabai (c.1498-1557), the Rajput princess-saint who became one of India's greatest devotional poets and composers. Her bhajans (devotional songs) in Braj Bhasha and Rajasthani address her beloved Krishna with intense personal longing, using imagery of the separated lover (viraha). Over 1,300 bhajans are attributed to her, though scholars accept a smaller authentic corpus. Meerabai's music broke caste and gender conventions: she sang and danced in public, refused her husband's household restrictions, and composed in a popular idiom accessible to all. Her songs are sung across India in both classical and folk styles; in Rajasthan they are sung by women at dawn in household courtyards. The Meerabai temple in Chittorgarh Fort is an active pilgrimage site and cultural centre.