Sankirtan (sankirtan, from Sanskrit san - together, and kirtana - singing of the names of Vishnu/God) is the practice of congregational singing of the holy names of God, especially in public, as an expression of Bhakti typical for many of the Bhakti movements.
Krishna sankirtan was prominently performed by the Gaudiya Vaishnava saint and reformer Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, and his close friend Nityananda in 16th century Bengal, India. In recent times it has been popularized around the world by ISKCON and other branches of the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition. Especially within ISKCON, the word 'sankirtan' is also used to refer to distribution of scriptures or books to the public, or preaching activities in general.
