Frogtoon Music

Ancient Mother Kali Puja Live Ii (Album) by Purna Das Baul

Artist Biography For Purna Das Baul

The Direct Descendant Of Ananta Goswami A Well Known Baul Guru In The Late Nineteenth Century Purna Das Baul Represents The Eighth Generation Of A Traditional Baul Lineage. He Spent His Childhood Accompanying His Father Nabani Das Kapha Baul The Legendary Baul Singer Mystic Poet And Yogi Who Was A Close Friend Of The Nobel Prize Winning Poet Rabindranath Tagore. Purna Das Baul Is Responsible For Raising Awareness Of This Unique Baul Tradition In The Rest Of The Indian Subcontinent And The West. He Was Recognized As Baul Samrat “King Of The Bauls” By The Then President Of India Dr Rajendra Prasad In 1967. He Received Another President’s Award For His Work In 1999 From Shri K. R. Narayan. Purna Das Baul Is Known For A Singing Voice Of Remarkable Range Operatic Power And Hauntingly Evocative Spirituality. His Soulful Ecstatic Song And Dance Typically Brings Audiences To Their Feet With Enthusiasm. In India His Concerts Draw Crowds Of Many Thousands. In India Purna Das Has Brought Baul Music To The Attention Of A Wide Public Through Concerts Performances At Religious Festivals And Numerous Recordings. He First Came To The U.S. In The Late 60s Invited By Albert Grossman Manager Of Bob Dylan And Peter Paul And Mary. He Was Befriended By Dylan And Poet Alan Ginsberg With Whom He Resonated As “Western Bauls.” In 1968 Purna Das Appeared With Dylan On The Cover Of The Latter’s Album John Wesley Harding. In Addition To Working With Dylan And The Band Purna Das Shared The Stage With Artists Such As Ravi Shankar Mahalia Jackson Joan Baez And Gordon Lightfoot. In Addition To Numerous Recordings In India Purna Das Baul Has Released A Number Of Recordings In Europe And North America On Labels Such As Electra Nonesuch CramWorld And Womad. Purna Das Baul’s CD “The Bauls Of Bengal” CramWorld 1994 Was Included In The Rough Guide’s World Music 100 Essential CDs. In India Purna Das Baul And His Family Have Actively Supported The Baul Community By Setting Up An Ashram In Shantiniketan A Traditional Center Of Baul Culture That Houses Bauls Who Are Involved In Various Community Projects Such As Helping AIDS Patients And Educating The Nearby Communities About AIDS Through Their Songs. He Also Works With Various Children’s Organizations By Performing At Their Centers And Hospitals. He Has Recently Started Regular Visits To The Local Prisons To Perform For The Inmates. In All Of These Sessions He Uses His Songs And Music To Inspire His Audience To Solve Their Problems In Spiritually Creative Ways. In These Endeavors He Is Always Accompanied By His Wife Manju Das And Son Dibyendu Das. Baul Is Not Just One Of The Many Things Unique To Bengal. This Wandering Music Cult 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 Used For Someone Who Is “possessed” Or “crazy”. 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. It’s Easy To Identify A Baul Singer From His Uncut Often Coiled Hair Saffron Robe Alkhalla Necklace Of Beads Made Of Basil Tulsi Stems And Of Course The Single-Stringed Guitar Ektara . 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. Music Of The Heart!
Bauls Croon From Their Hearts And Pour Out Their Feelings And Emotions In Their Songs. But They Never Bother To Write Down Their Songs. Theirs Is Essentially An Oral Tradition And 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. Baul Themes
The Theme That Bauls Deal With In Their Lyrics Is Mostly Philosophical In The Form Of Allegories On The State Of Disconnect Between The Earthly Soul And The Spiritual World. Often They 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. A Musical Community
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 They Have No 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. Baul Gadgets
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. Baul Country
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. Tagore & The Baul Tradition
Bengal’s Greatest Poet The Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore Wrote About The Bauls “One Day I Chanced To Hear A Song From A Beggar Belonging To The Baul Sect Of Bengal…What Struck Me In This Simple Song Was A Religious Expression That Was Neither Grossly Concrete Full Of Crude Details Nor Metaphysical In Its Rarefied Transcendentalism. At The Same Time It Was Alive With An Emotional Sincerity It Spoke Of An Intense Yearning Of The Heart For The Divine Which Is In Man And Not In The Temple Or Scriptures In Images Or Symbols… I Sought To Understand Them Through Their Songs Which Is Their Only Form Of Worship.”

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