Overview
A gandharva (Sanskrit: गन्धर्व, literally 'musician') is a member of a class of celestial beings featured in several Indian religious traditions, including Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. In these traditions, male gandharvas are described as divine performers, particularly musicians and singers, while their female counterparts, often associated with the apsaras, are depicted as celestial dancers.
In Hindu tradition, gandharvas are regarded as demigods who serve as the musicians of the devas, providing music and song in the heavenly courts. They occupy an intermediate position among the various classes of celestial beings and are commonly associated with the arts, especially music. By extension, the term gandharva is also used in Indian classical music to denote highly skilled singers, reflecting the long-standing cultural link between the figure and musical accomplishment.
In Buddhist usage, the word carries an additional meaning. Apart from referring to a class of celestial musicians broadly similar to those described in Hindu sources, it also denotes a being in the intermediate state between death and rebirth, a concept discussed within certain Buddhist textual traditions.
Across these traditions, gandharvas appear in narrative literature, devotional texts and iconography, and they remain a recognisable element of the wider cultural vocabulary shared by Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.