Baul-Fakirs of Nadia Go to Japan
Highlights
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It is the first time musicians from Nadia district, West Bengal perform in Japan.
Lalan Fakir (c. 1774–1890), a much celebrated Sufi philosopher poet lived in a
village of Nadia and the district was then an important centre of Baul-Fakiri
music. Yet, the tradition has nearly died out and until recently, nobody has heard
of the existence of musicians in Nadia district;
This musical practice was revitalized further to the ‘Art for Livelihood’ initiative
of banglanatak dot com, an NGO headquartered at Kolkata, specialized in Culture
and Development. With this initiative, Baul-Fakiri singers of Nadia were
reinstated in their original status of artists.
Artists from Nadia district resurrected Bangla Qawwali, a very rich genre of
Fakiri music which had died about 130 years ago. They are the only group
performing Bangla Qawwali and it is slowly regaining its lost glory and
popularity.
With banglanatk dot com’s constant endeavour of promoting these rural folk
artists and showcasing the traditional art forms to wider audiences, the artists have
performed across India, UK, China and will be setting out on 5 city concert in
Europe late this year again. This Japan tour gives them another opportunity to
reach out to the people of Japan.
The Japan tour will also feature woman Baul for the first time. Women Bauls
were traditionally the target of harassment from orthodox segment of the
communities. They are now empowered as full-fledged artists;
The initiative is supported by UNESCO as model case for the use of culture in
development.
Introduction
The Bauls and Fakirs are the wandering minstrels who sing about love, humanity and
devotion. Fakirs generally refer to Muslim Sufi ascetic while Baul is a generic term to
designate groups of mystic minstrels of Bengal which consist mainly of Vaishnava
Hindus and Sufi Muslims. However, people in Bengal generally call ascetics of Hindu
origin as Bauls and those of Sufi Muslims as Fakirs. Their philosophy carries influences
of Hindu Bhakti Movement and Sufism that emerged between the fourteenth and the
seventeenth century. While the origin differs, Bauls and Fakirs share common belief in
humanism and brotherhood beyond difference of religions and faiths. Music, for them, is
the means to attain unity with God. Today, in West Bengal, Bauls and Fakirs live
together and share the same musical tradition.
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Participating musicians
The folk musician’s team visiting Japan this time is composed of both Baul and Fakiri
singers, as well as musicians of tribal origin. The Baul-Fakirs, are from Nadia, a district
of West Bengal bordering Bangladesh and the tribal musicians are from western part of
Bengal, the red soiled districts of Purulia and Bankura. They are:
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Nur Alam Fakir, a young and talented performer. He specializes in Fakiri songs
and Bangla Qawwali. He is also an excellent Dotara player. He has performed
abroad earlier.
Subhadra Sharma, a female Baul visiting abroad for the first time. She is one of
the rare female leading Baul singers giving hope to women of the Baul-Fakiri
communities by setting an example of women empowerment.
Arjun Khyapa, the Baul with baritone, perhaps possessing the best voice in
recent times in Nadia. One of his special presentations is Tagore’s compositions
inspired by Baul songs. He has showcased his talent twice in UK last year and
also performed at 150th year of Tagore celebrations of Tagore Society London.
He used to earn his by cattle-rearing but now with the income he earns as artist,
he is a proud father, sending his children to high-school.
Mohan Patra, a tribal flutist, who has recorded with over 1000 Baul songs and
has performed at more than 30 festivals. He has also performed in UK and China.
Sibshankar Kalindi, a tribal Dhol (Purcussion) and Clarinet player, who has
performed at more than 20 festivals and with various international artists. He has
also performed in UK and China.
District of Nadia
The Nadia district bordering Bangladesh is predominantly agricultural with majority of
landless farmer, and is usually known to people as one of the most economicallybackward districts of West Bengal. It has been thus the target of many government
development projects. Nobody, however, would have thought that this district was once a
vibrant hub of Baul-Fakiri music tradition. Yet, Nadia was once the place of living of
Lalan Fakir, a celebrated Sufi poet and philosopher of Bengal (c. 1774–1890) and was
one of the active centres of Baul-Fakir music.
While most of the Baul-Fakiri singers known to us nowadays come from Birbhum district,
which is the international market place of Baul music and where famous Shanti Niketan
of Raindranath Tagore is located, it is the very first time the Japanese audience will
discover the artists from Nadia. Compared to that of Birbhum district, music from Nadia
may be more rustic in style, which precisely constitutes its charm.
Nadia district was the centre of Hindu-Bhakti movement led by Chaitanya Mahaprahu
(1486–1534), a Hindu saint and social reformer in Eastern India, and who became the
eminent leader of Vaishnava group. Various forms of devotional songs accompanied the
movement and the music tradition of Nadia can be said to be the descendant of Hindu-
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Bhakti movement. Because Chaitanya worshipped Radha and Krishna in particular,
many Radha-Krishna songs have entered the repertories of Baul-Fakir singers of Nadia.
Art for Livelihood initiative of banglanatak dot com (www.banglanatak.com)
The world had probably never heard of the artists from Nadia until 2004 when banglantak
dot com, a Kolkata based-NGO, stepped-in to work with some 272 Baul-Fakir singers of
Nadia under its experimental project – Making Art a Source of Livelihood.
Supported by the Eastern Zonal Cultural Centre and the Ministry of Rural Development
at its inception between 2005 and 2009 and subsequently by European Union between
2009 and 2011, the project aims at revitalizing the dying folk art of West Bengal by
enhancing the livelihood basis of the selected artist group, while also providing new
positive identity to their villages as cultural hubs rather than that of impoverished rural
areas. 3200 artists involved in six different art forms in the six most economically
backward districts of West Bengal were selected as project target, including 272 BaulFakir musicians from Nadia district1.
Poverty alleviation and employment generation constitute one of the major subjects of the
development agenda of the Government of India. The situation of rural India is
particularly challenging as it has higher rate of unemployment and illiteracy as compared
to urban areas. Daily labour is often considered to be the only means for the rural poor
lacking formation education. Art for Livelihood project endeavors to offer alternative
path for livelihood improvement, by shedding light to inherent artistic and creative skills
of rural communities, an area which have been hitherto neglected in the more traditional
development projects.
The project adopted a step-by-step approach consisting of (i) baseline studies on socioeconomic conditions, as well as Knowledge-Aptitude-Practice study of the artists; (ii)
training of the artists in the quality improvement of performance as well as in the basic
business/life skills; (iii) creation of Self Help Group (SHGs) and the opening of bank
account for each of the SHGs; (iv) provision of health insurance to the artists and their
family members; and (v) the creation of direct market linkages including the organization
of village festivals and development of community resource centres. This holistic
methodology was appreciated by UNESCO as viable model for the safeguarding of
intangible cultural heritage and led the organization to win a special consultative status to
advice the intergovernmental committee of the UNESCO Convention for the
Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Artists of Nadia, now and then
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Other art forms supported by the project are: Chau Dance of Purulia district; Jhummur; Ghambira, Domni
and Patachitra.
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In 2005 when the project began, most of the Baul-Fakiri in Nadia had stopped performing
due to abject poverty. Many of them never had opportunities for paid show and if they
did so, they received marginal fee of 40 to 500 rupees per show. In 2010, average
number of shows has increased from 8 -10 times a year to 60-80 times a year. The
leading singers have now more than 200 show a year. Average income per show (for a
group of 4 to 6 persons) has also increased and the artists now avail of 2500 to 10.000
rupees per show.
Equally important is their enhanced social status. Due to their unconventional freesociety, Baul-Fakir, especially women, have been traditionally the target of mistrust and
harassment from mainstream orthodox society who are questioning the moral practice of
the Baul-Fakir communities. Children of Baul-Fakir were often not allowed to enter
school by other groups of the communities. As the popularity of the music grew however,
and through the project intervention, Bauls-Fakirs of Nadia district have now gained new
identity. These hitherto marginalized people, who were earlier earning their livelihood as
daily laborer such as rickshaw puller or waste picker, are now reinstated in their original
status of artists and earn comfortably their live with their artistic skills. Villagers are now
proud of having ‘celebrities’ in their place. Encouraged by commercial success and new
livelihood opportunity, the average age of Baul-Fakiri singers in Nadia has decreased
from 62 to 46 years old.
Bangla Qawwali – a revitalized genre
Bangla Qawwali is a genre of Fakiri music, which is a very important form of devotional
music also common in countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, etc. It is believed to
have been created by Gaus-ul-Azam in Maizbhandari (now in Bangladesh, in undivided
India before partition it was Jessore, part of which is Nadia in West Bengal) and was a
part and parcel of Fakiri music in West Bengal. The genre has existed in undivided
Bengal for150 years but then died. The Fakirs of Nadia have relearned and resurrected
this age old tradition.
Message to Japanese audience
It is our infinite joy to present Baul-Fakiri singers of Nadia to the Japanese audience.
Like Japan, India is also rich in folk traditions the origin of which may go back to
hundreds and thousands of years. 60% of India’s population is from rural area. So, India
has imaginably a wide range of folk art forms. However, because of the sheer size of the
country, it is very difficult to know how many genres of traditional folk art exist in the
country. And many of them may have died out or are on verge of extinction, because the
rapid change in the ways of living that has led to the loss of traditional society who
supported the practice of such art forms.
Poverty of the artists is one of the biggest causes behind the demise of cultural traditions.
This was also the case of Baul-Fakiri musicians from Nadia, West Bengal.
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vibrant colors and sounds, it may be sometimes difficult to imagine the deprivation of
those communities who are main keepers of India’s diverse cultural traditions. Culture
cannot survive unless the livelihood of artists is sustained. Providing much needed
livelihood basis to the rural artists through direct market linkages is the key component of
Art for Livelihood project.
The artists of Nadia came a long way since 2004 to be present today in front of Japanese
audience. From the status of marginalized musicians even within India rural society, they
now come to you as Ambassador of Nadia. Using their growing social recognition, their
dream is to make Nadia a cultural hub of India so as to expand the economic benefit to
the entire villages.
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