Aṣṭachāp (meaning "8 seals" in
Hindi
Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...
) is a term used to refer to a group of 8 devout poets who were disciples of
Vallabhacharya
Vallabhacharya Mahaprabhu (1479–1531 CE), also known as Vallabha, Mahaprabhuji and Vishnuswami, or Vallabha Acharya, is a Hindu Indian saint and philosopher who founded the Krishna-centered PushtiMarg sect of Vaishnavism in the Braj(Vraj) ...
and his son
Vitthalnath, who sang
Haveli Sangeet Haveli Sangeet is a form of Hindustani classical music sung in ''havelis''. The essential component is dhrupad. It originated in Mathura in Braj, northern India. It takes the form of devotional songs sung daily to Krishna by the Pushtimarg sect.
U ...
prayers, praises, kirtans and musical storytelling different leelas of Lord Krishna, in Dhrupad Dhamma, Dwi Padi, TriPadi, Chatus Padi, ShatPadi, Ashta Padi Prabandh
It was established in 1565 AD with the foundation of
Pushtimarg
Pushtimarg (), also known as ''Pushtimarg sampradaya'' or ''Vallabha sampradaya'', is a subtradition of the Rudra Sampradaya (Vaishnavism). It was founded in the early 16th century by Vallabhacharya (1479–1531) and is focused on Krishna. . The poet
Sūrdās was the most well known member of the group the others being, Paramānanddās, Nanddās,
Kṛṣṇadās, Govindsvāmī, Kumbhandās, Chītasvāmī, and Caturbhujdās.
Apart from astachap kirtaniya Surdas ji, KumbhandasJi was also a great pre-eminent music doyen.
Each member of Astachaps, are assigned the duty of a particular part of daily worship.
References
{{Authority control
Bhakti movement
16th-century Indian poets