Every Tuesday or Saturday, thousands of Bay Area families gather in living rooms, community halls, and temples to recite the Sundarkand Path — the heart of Valmiki’s Ramayana, where Hanuman crosses the ocean and finds Sita. There’s something electric about those sessions. The rhythmic Sanskrit verses, the diya flickering, the smell of agarbatti, and the feeling that something larger than your problems is present in the room.

If you’ve felt that — you already know what devotion tastes like. And we’d love to introduce you to something that feeds that same hunger, every single week: Hari Naam Kirtan.

Why Sundarkand Path Works — The Science of Sacred Sound

Sundarkand isn’t just a chapter in a book. It’s an experience. When we recite those verses about Hanuman’s unwavering dedication to Lord Ram — his courage, his humility, his refusal to give up — something shifts inside us. The repetition of sacred sound creates what the Vedic tradition calls shabda brahman — the divine reality expressed through sound vibration.

This is an ancient and well-understood principle: when we vibrate sacred names and stories with devotion, we don’t just remember God — we touch God. The great Vaishnava acharya Vyasadeva writes in Srimad Bhagavatam (1.2.17): “Hearing the glories of the Lord destroys all inauspiciousness, and one who attentively and submissively hears such narrations achieves unwavering faith in the merciful Lord.”

Hanuman himself understood this better than anyone. He is the greatest bhakta — his power came not from his strength alone, but from his complete absorption in the names, form, and service of Lord Ram.

What Is Hari Naam Kirtan — and Why Hanuman Would Approve

At ISKCON of Silicon Valley, we practice Hari Naam Kirtan — congregational singing of the divine names, especially the Maha Mantra. Learn what kirtan is and how it works →

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama Hare Hare

Notice what’s in that mantra: Rama — the very Lord that Hanuman serves with every breath. When we sing kirtan, we’re singing to the same Supreme Being that Hanuman crossed the ocean for. Discover the full meaning and spiritual benefits of the Maha Mantra →

The difference between Sundarkand and kirtan isn’t in the destination — it’s in the experience:

• Sundarkand Path — devotional recitation of sacred verse; structured, textual, deeply meditative
• Hari Naam Kirtan — congregational singing; melodic, ecstatic, participatory, and deeply cleansing of the heart

Both create the sacred sound field. Both connect you to the divine. Many families find that doing both deepens their spiritual life in ways neither alone can achieve.

The Structure of a Sundarkand Path Session

Sundarkand — the fifth kanda of Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas — runs about sixty chaupais (verse-couplets) tracing Hanuman’s leap across the ocean, his discovery of Sita in Ashoka Vatika, the burning of Lanka, and his return with news of her whereabouts. Most Bay Area households recite it in the original Awadhi rather than Sanskrit, and many keep the practice tied specifically to Tuesdays or Saturdays — the days traditionally associated with Hanuman. Families often organize a Path around a specific need: before a house move, during someone’s illness, ahead of an exam or a big decision, or simply as a monthly gathering that rotates between homes. The recitation is usually led by one or two readers with the rest of the room following along or joining the refrains, and it closes the same way Chowki and kirtan both do — aarti, prasad, and a shared sense of having sat with something larger for an hour.

That same devotional current — sacred sound building toward a shared peak — is exactly what an ISKCON kirtan evening feels like from the inside.

What Happens at an ISKCON Kirtan Session in the Bay Area

ISKCON of Silicon Valley has been serving the Bay Area’s devotional community for over 50 years. Our kirtan programs are led by trained practitioners in the Vaishnava sampradaya — a living tradition of teachers and students going back centuries.

When you attend, here’s what you experience: someone begins a simple melody on the harmonium — just a few notes repeating. Others join in with mridanga and kartals. Within minutes, the whole room is singing together. There’s no performance pressure. You don’t need to know Sanskrit or the lyrics. You just follow along.

And somewhere in that communal singing — usually when you least expect it — something opens up. People describe it as:

• Feeling lighter, like weight lifted from their shoulders
• Tears without sadness — just pure gratitude
• A deep interior silence, even while the room is alive with sound
• The feeling of being home

After kirtan, we share prasadam — lovingly prepared sanctified food. We sit together, talk, and often hear a short teaching from scripture. It feels like what a Sundarkand session feels like at its best — sacred, communal, nourishing.

Bhajan: The Intimate Companion Practice

Beyond full kirtan programs, ISKCON holds Hari Bhajan sessions — smaller, quieter, more meditative gatherings with devotional songs from the Vaishnava tradition, composed by saints like Mirabai, Tukaram, Surdas, and Narottama Das Thakura. Understand the difference between kirtan and bhajan →

If Sundarkand recitation is the structured, textual expression of devotion you love, bhajan is its melodic sister — more intimate, more personal, deeply moving.

Already Doing Sundarkand? Here’s What You’ll Recognize Immediately

People who come to kirtan from a Sundarkand background remark on how familiar the devotional logic feels:

• Sacred sound as the vehicle — same Vedic principle, different form
• Community gathering — sangha, satsang, the amplifying power of doing it together. What is satsang and why community transforms practice →
• Prasadam — always present, always lovingly prepared
• Stories of the Lord’s leelas — Bhagavatam pravachan does for Krishna what Ramayana does for Ram
• Hanuman’s spirit of surrender — the same devotional quality kirtan cultivates in the heart

Local Bay Area Devotional Events: What to Expect

ISKCON of Silicon Valley holds kirtan and bhajan programs throughout the week — weekday evenings, weekend morning programs, and special event kirtans during festivals. Whether you’re in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Fremont, or anywhere in the South Bay, our temple is accessible and our community is welcoming.

Many Bay Area families attend Sundarkand Path in their homes or community halls — and also make ISKCON kirtan their weekly practice. See how Bay Area families are making kirtan a weekly home practice →

Come for the kirtan. Stay for the prasadam. Leave with a practice that sustains you every single day.

See this week’s programs at ISKCON of Silicon Valley →

A Note for Devoted Families

Many families in the Bay Area honor multiple traditions — Sundarkand on Saturdays, temple visits, and now weekly kirtan. These don’t compete. The Vaishnava saints taught that any sincere devotion to any form of the Lord is honored by the Lord Himself.

What kirtan adds is a living, breathing, weekly community — a spiritual family beyond your biological one. Ready to bring kirtan into your home too? Here’s a complete guide →

Hanuman crossed the ocean alone. But you don’t have to.

If your family also gathers for devotional singing events like Mata ki Chowki, the bridge to kirtan will feel especially natural: Mata ki Chowki in the Bay Area and Hari Naam Kirtan →

And if Sundarkand is part of a larger Ramayan Path tradition in your family, Dussehra completes the same story Hanuman serves: Navratri, Durga Puja and Dussehra — Rama’s victory and the Vaishnava thread →

Frequently Asked Questions

Gaurav Verma

Kirtan Volunteer · ISKCON Silicon Valley

Gaurav has been leading bhajans and kirtans in Bay Area homes for more than 10 years. He teaches harmonium for kirtan on YouTube, shares bhajan albums on SoundCloud, and coordinates the Vrindavan Mellows home kirtan service across the San Francisco Bay Area.