The Baul Tradition in Bengal: A Celebration of Dance, Music and Spirituality

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I am Noholie Bonnerjee, a citizen of India and a second-year undergraduate student residing and studying in Kolkata (West Bengal, India). I am pursuing my undergraduate B.A. Honours (Bachelor of Arts) in History (major subject) and International Relations and Strategic Studies (elective subject) from Jadavpur University (Kolkata, West Bengal).

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Introduction

Image of a Baul with Ektara

The Baul (বাউল)are believed to be wandering mystics, roaming in different parts of Bangladesh and the neighbouring Indian states of West Bengal, and north-eastern states such as Tripura, Assam, and Meghalaya. They constitute both a religious sect of dance and a musical tradition. Though considered to be a diverse sect, their followers belong to both the Vaishnava Hindus and the Sufi Muslim sects. They are often identified by their unique clothing style, along with a musical instrument, mainly the Ektara, and numerous dance movements.

‘Baul’: The Origin

The word ‘Baul’ is generally believed to have its roots in the Sanskrit word ‘Vatul,’ meaning ‘unusual’ or ‘mad.’ The word Vyākula, which means “impatiently eager, or upset,” is also associated with the term origin. Recent scholarly research suggests that the Bauls may also belong to a specific branch of Sufism referred to as Ba’al. Another theory is that the word might come from the Persian word ‘Aul’. The tradition is also traced to the medieval Bhakti movement, emphasizing devotion to God through music and dance.

Cultural performance of Baul followers with musical instruments

Emergence of Baul Tradition in Bengal: The Medieval Context

Painting of Baul Tradition in medieval Bengal

The Baul of Bengal were against recording their practices, lives, or beliefs. As an alternative, scholars searched the songs of the Baul for potential historical pieces of evidence. According to Dr. Jeanne Openshaw, the music of the Baul might have been transferred and narrated in oral form until the end of the 19th century. After analysing the distinct style and language of the Baul music, cultural historians link the sect to its unique style of worship.

The first trace appears in the Caryāpadas, the oldest texts of Bengali narratives. The ancient documents contain poems sung and composed by the Siddhācāryas (a religious sect of Bengal). Through this evidence, we observe that the Baul share the philosophy of achieving personal freedom through Tantra. The poems of this sect also have a metaphorical nature of the Baul. The word “Baul” has also appeared in Bengali texts as old as the 15th century. It was found in the Chaitanya Bhagavata of Vrindavana Dasa Thakur as well as in the Chaitanya Charitamrita of Krishnadasa Kaviraja.

The Socio-Religious Aspect of the Baul Tradition

Lalon, the most celebrated Baul saint in history, by Jyotirindranath Tagore, 1889

The Bauls of Bengal believe in a religion largely based on ideas from Hinduism, Islam, and Buddhism. Its influences come from Tantric (Sahajiya) Buddhism, Tantric Hinduism (primarily Vaisnava Sahajiya, but also Saiva-Sakta), Bengali (Gaudiya) Vaisnavism, and Sufi Islam. Bauls consist of both economically and socially marginal groups. They identify themselves with neither Hindu nor Muslim society.

While the majority of Hindu Bauls are residents of West Bengal, the Muslim Bauls prefer to live in Bangladesh. Monks, ascetics, nomads, and married men compose the society of the Bauls. Caste, special deities, temples, and sacred places are subjects of less importance in the Baul ideology. They do not promote divinities or religious symbols in their places of worship. Rather, they believe the temple where the supreme resides is in their own body.

Fakir Lalan Shah, the greatest of all time and the oldest recorded writer of these songs, developed the majority of Baul songs. He declared that there was only one true religion, i.e., the religion of man. Based on Legends, it is believed that he continued to compose and sing songs for decades without even correcting them or putting them on paper. It was only after his death that people thought of collecting and compiling his collection of Baul compositions.

In the Baul religion, individual inquiry and emphasis on the importance of a person’s physical body are highlighted, as it is the only place where the Supreme resides. These songs were used for instruction by the guru to teach his disciple and to prepare him for the ultimate truth. The goals of the Baul practitioner are to achieve the realization of the Supreme using both yogic and tantric techniques.

The Cultural Influence of Baul Songs and Music in Bengal

Bauls are admired for their liberating ideas, expressed through their unique style of art and narratives. Their art includes poetry, music, song, and dance, devoted to finding humankind’s relationship to God.

The Baul music represents folk song, with the combination of Hindu bhakti movements and the shuphi, a form of Sufi song. The songs are also used by the spiritual leader to instruct disciples in Baul philosophy and are transmitted orally. The language and the ideas of the songs translate shifting mindsets and modernisation, making them contemporarily influential. They play an active role in the oral communication of Baul ideas and beliefs, and transfer the teachings from the guru on down to the disciple. These songs were composed by the part of the sect that had reached maturity through spiritual union.

The Guru-Sishya Tradition during the Medieval period

The importance of the teacher (guru)-pupil (shishya) relationship is observed by both Hindu and Muslim Bauls. They both believe in the divine supremacy of God and the association with living beings. The all-knowing guru does not make the disciple renounce the pleasure of the world but instead stresses self-development, which is based on experiences only. The guru-sishya system is given importance in the tantras, which deal with the practical side of sadhana along with yogic exercises. In the Baul tradition, no disciple can attempt to find the ultimate truth without the instruction of the all-important guru.

The lyrics deal with body-centric practices for controlling sexual desire. For instance, the stigmatized knowledge of conception and contraception is revealed through an enigmatic song language that needs to be decoded by the guru to be understood and experienced.

Tagore and Baul: An Evergreen Association

Baul singers from Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India

The Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore, considered a Baul himself, introduced Baul songs to the middle-class Bengali society. Tagore and his associate Ksitimohan Sen elevated the Bauls to the status of a cultural symbol. Tagore, through his compositions and speeches, talked of Bauls in Europe in the 1930s. The Baul movement, along with their music and way of life, has influenced a large segment of Bengali culture, especially the compositions of Tagore.

The Baul Dance: A Unique Integration of Folklore with Spirituality

The Baul dance is an expressive form of performance, accompanied by traditional musical instruments such as the Dotara (a two-stringed instrument), the Ektara (a one-stringed instrument), and the Dhol (a drum). Drums like the duggi, a small hand-held earthen drum, and khol, small cymbals called khartal and manjira, and the bamboo flute are also used. Ghungur and Nupur are anklets with bells that ring while the person wearing them dances. The dance movements are simple and often include hand gestures, footwork, and free movement of the body.

The Baul dance is connected to spirituality. The songs are spiritually inclined in theme, and the lyrics are usually in Bengali and a mix of folk poetry along with philosophical musings. An important part of their philosophy is “Dehatatta,” a spirituality related to the body rather than the mind. Metaphysical topics are handled with simplicity, focusing on restraining themselves from worldly attachments.

The “Baul” Lifestyle

Bauls live either near a village or travel from place to place and earn their living from singing with their traditional musical instruments, along with the performance of dance and recitation to spread the message of divinity and liberation by roaming from one place to another.

Mainly, two classes of Bauls are found in Bengal- Ascetic Bauls and Bauls who reside with their families. Ascetic Bauls renounce their social life and survive on alms. They roam from one akhda to another, in whichever direction their divine lord leads them. Those who wish to live with their families reside in a secluded part of a village and avoid socializing with other members of the community. Unlike ascetic Bauls, their rituals are less strict.

The dress of Indian Bauls is orange and red, and has a distinct way of getting together. They carry jholas, which are mainly shoulder bags for alms. They do not beget or rear children and are treated as “jyante mara”.

Women serving the ascetics are known as ‘Sevadasis’ (service slaves). A male Baul can have one sevadasi associated with the act of devotion. To become Bauls, they recite some mystic verses and observe rituals related to the tradition.

Baul festivals are celebrated in various parts of Bengal, attracting people who enjoy the joy and energy of Baul music and dance. An annual gathering called Jaydeb Mela, taking place in January in Kenduli, near Bolpur, attracts bauls and followers from all over the regions of eastern and north-eastern parts of India, along with Bangladesh.

The Modern Relevance of Baul Tradition in Bengal

Though the Baul movement was at its peak in the 19th and early 20th centuries, however, in the current scenario, one also comes across the occasional Baul with his ektara. Despite the challenges, the tradition is getting widely recognized in modern times as a popular art form in Bengal.

The preservation of the Baul songs and the performance depend mainly on the socio-economic situation of their practitioners. The Bauls are mainly believed to belong to a marginalized group. With the worsening situation of rural Bangladesh, the situation of Bauls has worsened. Even though there are socio-economic challenges, culturally, they are thriving through the preservation and spreading of their tradition in modern times.

Currently, Baul music and dance are taught in educational institutions, ensuring that the tradition is preserved for future generations. Along with this, another version of Baul called the folk fusion or baul rock is also getting accepted by the Bengali audience, especially in West Bengal.

Conclusion

The Baul tradition is a vibrant form of folk expression, which continues to be a proud member of the cultural heritage of Bengal. The unique blend of art and philosophy still inspires people and is admired around the world. For the Bauls, dance became a form of religion, along with music being their form of worship. Thus, as the Baul tradition is celebrated, the power of music and dance connecting to ourselves, each other, and the divine is also highlighted through their cultural rituals and practices.