Ginan Central: Recitals

Like all religious hymns, ginans of the Ismaili Muslim community are meant to be performed and experienced. Ginans leverage the power of poetry and music to bring faith, knowledge, devotion and worship into ecstatic harmony. Having originated in India, ginans exhibit close affinity to Indic devotional and musical traditions that requires further academic research. The purpose of this website is to encourage research, access and preservation of performance and practice of ginans. This website is maintained by Karim Tharani, tenured librarian and faculty at the University of Saskatchewan. Visit Ginan Central for more resources on ginans. For more information or questions, please contact

Even those who may not understand the meanings and significance of the words they sing may experience an emotion difficult to describe but which sometimes physically manifests itself through moist eyes or tears. Professor Ali Asani Harvard University Source: The Ismaili Ginans as Devotional Literature, Devotional Literature in South Asia: Current Research, 1985 – 1988, Cambridge University Press, 1992.