Kerala - Thrissur   

Celebrating unconditional love

FROM THE SOUL: Parvathy Baul performing Baul music at the Regional Theatre in Thrissur on Wednesday.

Thrissur: Bauls, the mystic minstrels of Bengal, do not believe in boundaries, so is their music.

It celebrates unconditional love.

This wandering music cult has a special place in the history of world music.

Parvathy Baul, eminent singer from Bengal, held the audience at the Regional Theatre spellbound on Wednesday with the deep mysticism of the nomadic Baul clan.

Her vocals accompanied by ekthara (a one-stringed drone instrument), dugi (a small hand-held earthen drum) and nupur (anglets), took the listeners to the heights of delight.

“Baul is a lifestyle or an approach to life. The religion of the Bauls is the expression of the mind and body, which we call sadhana,” Ms. Parvathy told The Hindu.

Baul music touches every element of human nature in a straight way as a declaration of love by the Baul for his boshtomi or life mate, she said.

Parvathy Baul, a singer, painter and storyteller from West Bengal, studied visual arts at the Kala Bhavan at Shantiniketan.

Since 1995 she has been performing Baul music across the world.

Though Bauls comprise a small fraction of the Bengali population, they have a great influence on Bengali culture. Rabindranath Tagore was greatly influenced and inspired by Bauls. Bauls are a very heterogeneous group, with many different streams to the sect.

Baul thought has mixed elements of Tanthra, Sufism, Vaishnavism and Buddhism.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Celebrating unconditional love
Heritage walk organised
Scholar passes away
Theatre revamp skirts acoustic problems

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu