COMMUNAL

Barah Maha

BARAH MAHA by Guru Nanak is in Rag Tukhari. It follows the seasonal cycle of the year. Many passages from it are popularly sung in Kirtan, the Sikh devotional concert. Barah Maha stands out in Sikh literature for its poetic splendour and philosophical importance. The movement of the twelve months—beginning with Chet, the first month of spring—and the effect of their passage on different species are vividly portrayed as metaphor for the phases of the spiritual journey. Guru Nanak richly fuses universal and particular time and space in the person of a young bride ardently searching for her divine Bridegroom through the cameos of the changing reality of the twelve months. (Guru Granth, pp. 1107–10.)