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Baul Song Video4/16/2021
Later, the Baul domain stretched to Tripura in the north, Bangladesh in the east, and parts of Bihar and Orissa in the west and south respectively.The Origin and History of the Bauls of Bengal Wandering Music Cult.He has written several books about Hinduism for children and young adults.The mystical Baul music cult is not just unique to Bengal, but also has a special place in the history of world music.
The word Baul has its etymological origin in the Sanskrit words Vatula (madcap), or Vyakula (restless), and is often used to describe someone who is possessed or crazy. Originally, the Bauls were simply nonconformists 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. Its easy to identify a Baul singer from his uncut, often coiled hair, saffron robe ( alkhalla ), a necklace of beads made of basil ( tulsi ) stems, and of course, the single-stringed guitar ( ektara ). Music is their only source of sustenance: Bauls live on whatever they are offered by villagers in return, as they travel from place to place, riding, in effect, on the vehicle of their own ecstasy. Individuals consist mainly of Vaishnava Hindus and Sufi Muslims. They can often be identified by their distinctive clothes and musical instruments. Not much is known of their origin, though it is conjectured that the cult of traveling musicians may date back to the 9th century CE. Not until the mid 18th century are they noted by historians as a major, identifiable cult. Bauls croon from their hearts and pour out their feelings and emotions in their songs, but they never bother to write down their songs, since theirs is essentially an oral tradition. It is said of Lalan Fakir (1774 -1890), the greatest of all Bauls, that he continued to compose and sing songs for decades without ever stopping to correct them or put them on paper. It was only after his death that people thought of collecting and compiling his rich repertoire. ![]() Often, the lyrics philosophize on love and the many-splendoured bonds of the heart, subtly revealing the mystery of life, the laws of nature, the decree of destiny and the ultimate union with the divine. Bauls live like a community, and their main occupation is the propagation of Baul music. But they are the most non-communal of all communities: As a group, they have no formal religion, for they only believe in the religion of music, brotherhood, and peace. Predominantly a Hindu movement, the Baul philosophy weaves together different Islamic and Buddhist strains as well. Bauls use a variety of indigenous musical instruments to embellish their compositions. The ektara, a one-stringed drone instrument, is the common instrument of a Baul singer. It is the carved from the epicarp of a gourd and made of bamboo and goatskin. Other commonly used musical paraphernalia include dotara, a multi-stringed instrument made of the wood of a jackfruit or neem tree; dugi, a small hand-held earthen drum; leather instruments like dhol, khol and goba; chime tools like ghungur, nupur, small cymbals called kartal and mandira,and the bamboo flute. Originally, the district of Birbhum in West Bengal was the seat of all Baul activity.
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