Baul Singer
Like
Buddhists Bhiksus Baul Singers are also an ancient group of wandering minstrels
from Bengal also believes in simplicity of life and love. This vocal and
performing art was made famous by Lalan Fakir (1774-1890) the greatest of Bauls,
he himself use to compose and sing his own made songs in deep inside the
villages of West Bengal for decades without making any record of his
performances on papers , so the people of West Bengal decided to compile his
repertoire. It is a wandering music cult which recognizes the singers from
distant by their unique attire. They use to wear saffron color traditional
Dhoti Kurta turban with a necklace of Basil or say Tulsi beads. Their uncut
coiled hair is also attracting the people. They always move with Ek Tara,
single string guitar. With song and dance mood they attract the masses that are
their source of sustenance.
The
Baul singers thrive on whatever the villagers offer them in return of their
performance as they are wanderers and move from place to place. They are mostly
Vaishnava Hindu and Sufi Muslims, not much known about them but it is believe
that their origin is back to 9the Century CE. While performing the Baul Singers
pour out feeling of their heart and emotions.
In ancient periods they didn’t penned their songs essentially their oral
renditions which are on philosophical notes.
They
live like a community and their main occupation and religion is Baul singing.
They don’t have any formal religion. The Baul is an indigenous musical
instrument made of cutting the gourd and made of bamboo and goat skin with one
string attached to it. Some are made of two strings called Do Tara. The
district of Birbhoom in West Bengal is the epicenter of Baul Singers, lately it
is spread over Tripura in the North, Bangla desh in East in the district of
Chittong, Shylet, Orissa in West are famous for Bauls. The Baul Singers come
from far off places during Kenduli and Pous Mela in West Bengal. Luckily I had
the opportunity to see their magical performance during Dol Mela at Shanti
Niketan in Bolpur Bengal, where I shot lot of Baul singer’s performances.
There
are many Baul singers in West Bengal. Such as 1. Basudeb Das Baul, 2. Parvathy
Baul, 3. Paban Das Baul, 4. Gaur Khyapa, 5. Abdul Rahman Boyati,6. Bidit Lal
Das, etc.
Text
with help of Archive and Photo by- Ashok Karan,
Ashokkaran.blogspot.com,
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