a sabhaa gaanam, a Carnatic song, usually of a devotional nature (vaidika gaanam). It has a saahitya to praise god or beg pardon, sometimes connected with puraanic incidents. The saahitya is more important in keertanas and it is said to have existed before the kriti. It has a pallavi, may or may not have an anupallavi, and has at least one caraNam, each usually of the same pattern (even the same pattern as the pallavi!). Keertanas are usually in familiar raagas