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| Purna Das Baul |
Baul Music is one of the few widely known and appreciated types of folk music in West Bengal and Bangladesh.
Bauls constitute both asyncretic religious sect and a musical tradition. Bauls are a very heterogeneous group, with many sects, and Originally, the Bauls were nonconformist, who rejected the traditional social norms to form a distinct sect that upheld music as their religion. "Baul" is also the name given to the genre of folk music developed by this creative cult. Music is their only source of sustenance: They live on whatever they are offered by villagers in return, and travel from place to place, as it were, on a vehicle of ecstasy.
The Bauls have been described by many in many different ways and to each they have been different. Identified by their clothes and the magical instrument "Ektaara", the story of their origin has mixed elements of Tantra, Sufi Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism.The baul costume consists of a half-dhoti and an alkhalla (saffron robes). Another noticeable identifying signs of baul is their hair style, they don't cut their hair, so a manner has been devised for coiling it neatly atop the head in a bun. they also wear a kind of necklace made of beads formed from the stems of the basil plant (tulsi).
Baul Music is that type of music which smells of earth and talks of the greater difficulties of life in the simplest of ways using metaphors, emotions and a deep sense of mysticism. Their longing for the oneness with the divine, their unconditional love for their soul mates, their emotions are reflected in their songs which are sung with the strumming of the ektaara or dotaara and with the beats of their "ghungur ".
The beauty of Baul music is that it expresses something so ordinary in an extra-ordinary way.In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.
Originally, the district of Birbhum in West Bengal was the seat of all Baul activity. Later the Baul domain stretched to Tripura in the north, Bangladesh in the east, parts of Bihar and Orissa in the west and south respectively. In Bangladesh, the districts of Chittagong, Sylhet, Mymensingh and Tangyl are famous for Bauls. Bauls from far off places come to participate in the Kenduli Mela and the Pous Mela - the two most important fairs held in West Bengal for Baul music. It's hard to think of Bengali culture sans the Bauls. They're not only an intrinsic part of Bengal's music, they're in the mud and air of this land, they're in the mind and blood of it's people. The spirit of the Bauls is the spirit of Bengal - ever-flowing in its society and culture, literature and art, religion and spirituality.
Bauls continue to inspire filmmakers and music lovers as more and more bands that have adopted Baul music surface. Bands like Bolpur Blues, Baul and Beyond have reinvented Baul music to the extent where they have created a stir among the young population.
A live performance by Gautam Baul at Birbhum,WB
