Page:History of Bengali Language and Literature.djvu/622

 582 BENGALI LANGUAGE & LITERATURE. [ Chap. Saraha, Dheguna, Santi, Bhade, Tandaka, Ranta, Kankana, Jayananda, Dhamma and Savara sang kirtana songs to the willing ears of Bengali peasants and Bengali artisans.’’* Though we would thus admit the priority of the claims of the Buddhists regarding the invention of some of the tunes of £rtana songs, yet there is no doubt that these were restricted to a very narrow circle of men. The popularity and development of kirtana in all its charming forms, especially in the composition of the Manohara Sahi tune, belong- ed undoubtedly to the Vaisnavas. | Manohara Sahi rapidly attained a luxuriant growth under the fostering attention paid to it by the followers of Chaitanya Deva. So we need not wonder that in the popular notion the credit of originating kirtana is ascribed to them. We shall here proceed to give a brief history of kirtana in Bengal. There are four kinds of fzrfana. 1. Gadana- Hati 2. Reneti. 3. Mandarani, 4. Manohara Sahi. The names are taken from those of the places in which particular &¢r¢anas originated and flourish- ed. Gadana Hat is in the district of Maldah, Reneti in Midnapur, Mandaran in Katak and Manohara Sahi is a Perganna in the district of Burdwan. Manohara Sahi was created by a clever com- bination of the different tunes of the three other kinds of dtrtana; it was therefore a later growth. The composition produced a singular melody and
 * Preface to Ram Charita by Sandhyakara Nandi p. 12.