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Welcome !!; You have just found the largest collection of **authentic** Baul songs on the web !!
Bauls are a religious sect originating in Bengal circa
14th - 15th century in the wake of the "Bhakti" movement, with the syncretic
ideology of combining the best in Hindu and Islamic Sufi traditions. Always
emphasising direct transcendental experience over senseless dogma and rituals,
the Baul is a wandering musician who lives on alms and believes in poverty
being an essential ingredient of a successful spiritual life.
Bishnudas Baul is as close to the Baul ideal as one can possibly ever
be. Bishnudas stays in a village close to Bongaon, a town on the border
between the Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh. He sustains himself
and his small family by begging for alms on the streets of Kolkata (formerly
Calcutta) and in the local trains to and from the city. These songs were recorded on home audio equipment
during small private concerts at Kolkata. The language is Bengali
with strong dialectical overtones. Some outside sounds like birdsong and
(in a few tracks) the sound of incessant tropical rain may be present.
In this site you will find freely downloadable music and some background information on Bauls which may be useful to people who are new to the genre. If you are, on the other hand, an expert (and a kindly soul !), I would be very happy to recieve comments, info and, if possible, english translations of the lyrics, which lack of time and ability prevent me from posting on this site. Any such help will of course be gratefully acknowledged.
--Surajit
P.S. Pleasant surprise !! Songs from this site
now rank # 2 in the Top 40
Indian music charts. Someone seems to be
listening after all !! THANK YOU !!
Hope this translates into something more substantial for Bishnudas someday ... he needs your help even for his basic sustenance.
P.S. Because of changes in mp3.com policies, only three songs will be displayed at a time on this page for free download after January 31, 2003. I
will try to update this songlist as often as possible. If you need to download any particular song after this date you may send me email (click "contact" above!).
Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).
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