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A sahasranama (Sanskrit:सहस्रनाम; sahasranāma) is a type of Hindu scripture in which a deity is referred to by 1,000 or more different names. Sahasranamas are classified as stotras, or hymns of praise, a type of devotional scripture. Sahasra means a thousand, or more generally, a very large number. Nama (nāman) means name. The literal translation of sahasranama is "a thousand names".
A sahasranama provides a terse but encyclopedic guide to the attributes and legends surrounding a deity. There are also many shorter stotras, called ashtottara-shata-nāma stotras, which have only 108 names.
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Many religions include praise of the Divine Name as an important part of their tradition. In Hinduism all of the most widely-known forms of the divine have sahasranama stotra devoted to them. Recitation and study of these often constitute part of the daily routine of formal worship both at home and in temples.
Among the Nine Expressions of Bhakti, usually elaborated in Hindu tradition, four have relevance to the use of sahasranamas:
A Lakshārchanā involves the repetition of names one hundred thousand times. Laksha, in Sanskrit, means one hundred thousand. This is an intensive version of the Sahasra-nāma-archanā. It involves the repeated chanting of sahasranamas, multiplying the number of the performances by the number of the people who joined in the chorus.
To achieve this goal several people sit together and perform repetition of the names in chorus. This continues for a prefixed time duration, usually for several days, chanting for a certain number of hours each day. The recital of the different participants for the several days adds up to at least 100,000 repetitions of divine names.
There are occasions when a Koti archanā is also performed to the deity by counting up to 100 Lakshārchanās. Koti (crore, in English) is one hundred lakshas; that is, ten million.
Such elaborate devotions usually mean a good deal of expense and so they are usually done in temples or public organizations which can obtain the necessary sponsorship.
The most well-known and widely-used include the following:
Tantrikas chant the Bhavani Nāma Sahasra Stuti and the Kali Sahasranāma.
While the Vishnu and Shiva Sahāsranamas are popular amongst all Hindus, the Lalita Sahasranama is mostly chanted in South India. The Ganesha Sahasranama is mainly chanted by Ganapatya. The Bhavani Nāma Sahasra Stuti is the choice of Kashmiri Paṇḍits and the Kali Sahasranāma is mostly chanted by Bengalis.