Devotional Music
For somebody who would describe himself as an atheist, and whose family comes from a spiritual tradition that doesn't require belief in a conventional "God", I love visiting temples and listening to devotional music. I also enjoy visiting certain gurudwaras, masjids, synagogues, and churches, especially if music is involved.
While the devotional music I listen to is mostly Tamil Murugan bhajans and Punjabi qawwali, here is a collection of my favorite songs from different spiritual traditions and how I was introduced to them.
Murugan Bhajans
Murugan is a god revered primarily by the Tamil people, even before Vedic Hinduism came to Tamil Nadu. My mom's family deity (kuladeivam) is Murugan, and her and my grandmother used to sing me this song - Muththaana Muththukkumaraa - as I fell asleep. The version below, sung by Manjapra Mohan, is the closest one I could find to how my grandmother sang it. I remember it as a slower, more gentle song.
There are a lot more great Murugan bhajans that I like, like this one, but let's continue.
Punjabi Qawwali
I'm not sure when I was introduced to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and qawwali, but I started listening to qawwali more after I spent a summer in New Delhi in high school. This recording of Nit Khair Manga sung, by Mukhtiyar Ali in his Rajasthani village, is my favorite qawwali. It feels very personal and authentic.
Sikh Shabad Kirtan
The first time I went to a gurudwara was during my aforementioned summer in New Delhi, when me and some friends waited out rain inside Gurudwara Sis Ganj Sahib. It was a serene bubble in the middle of the chaos of Chandni Chowk, and I have since found that is the case for most gurudwaras I have been to.
Inside gurudwaras, you can usually find people singing poems (Shabad) from the Guru Granth Sahib accompanied by harmoniums and tablas, and one such poem is Salok Mahalla 9. I'm a fan of this rendition by Maithili Thakur and her brothers.
Jewish-Turkish Fusion
Youtube randomly recommended me this song a while back, and every so often I come back to it - Hinech Yafa by Light in Babylon. It's a rendition of a modern Israeli song that adapted Shir Hashirim, a centuries-old Jewish poem, with Turkish/Persian/Romani elements. Light in Babylon's version is only loosely a devotional song, but like qawwali, Shir Hashirim is a poem about romantic longing that serves as an allegory for love of God.
Tamil Muslim
Islam came to South India earlier and much more peacefully than to North India. Due to this and the partition, North Indian Hindu and Muslim communities are much more divided than their Tamil counterparts.
Arab traders brought Islam to South India during the lifetime of the prophet Muhammad, and a coastal Tamil Muslim community formed. Later, around 900 CE, Turkish Sufi preacher Nathar Shah spread Islam to inland Tamil Nadu. The syncretic nature of Tamil Islam is apparent in Nagoor, which hosts the dargah of 16th century Sufi Shahul Hamid and is a pilgrimage site for Muslims and Hindus.
My last song is emblematic of Tamil society's religious harmony relative to other states in India - Iraivanidam Kaiyendungal by Nagoor E. M. Hanifa. Its simple and relatively secular lyrics make it a popular song among Muslims, Hindus and Christians.