The folk tradition of Bangladesh is an integral part of the national identity. Bangladesh has a rich folk music which includes both religious and secular songs.
Bangladesh is a new country but its culture, however, is a thousand years old. It is known as a land of music. Folk music of Bangladesh is simple and it is sung by the simple people of living in the villages. It is easily understood as it is the spontaneous expression of their feelings and emotions.
Bangladesh has countless river tributaries criss-crossing the lush green land. Here the boats are the main means of communication. Where there are boats, there are boatmen too, and these boatmen sing the popular type of folk song called “Bhatiali”. Most of the composers of these folk songs are anonymous. These fearless boatmen while rowing their boats on ocean-like rivers they sing out loud the “Sari” songs which are incomparable.
The other major type of folk song is called “Bhawaiya” or the “cartman’s song”.These are sung in the northern parts of Bangladesh like Rangpur, Dinajpur, etc. There, the dusty, rugged, muddy roads take the plade of rivers, bullock carts replace boats, and “Bhawaiya” and “Chatke” take the place of Bhatiali. Then we have “Bichhedi” or the song of separation. These songs speak of the sorrows and stresses of separating from ones lover.
There are plenty of mystic songs composed by great writers like Hason Raja and Lalon Shah which are very popular throughout the country. Baul songs are another kind of folk song. Bauls are a sect of singers not belonging to any established religion. Within the entire Bengal there are many type of Bauls – each adapting a distinct singing style characteristic of the loacality. There is also Jari gan, Kobi gan, and Pala gan, which keep the listeners and audience spellbound for nights together in the villages.
Different folk songs belong to different regions of Bangladesh and West Bengal, to name some of them …..
Baul and spiritual songs: Birbhum and Kushtia.
Jarigan: Dhaka, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Faridpur, Murshidabad.
Bhawaiya: Cooch Bihar, Rajshahi, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Pabna.
Gambhira: Rajshahi, Malda.
Gajan: West Bengal.
Nil Puja: Bangladesh.
Roof-beating songs: the northern regions of Bangladesh, Birbhum and Bankura in West Bengal.
Sari: the lower marshy regions of Sylhet and Mymensingh.
Bhatiyali: nearly all regions of Bangladesh, the regions of Tripura and Shilchar.
Bhadu Gan: Bankura, Purulia, southern Birbhum and western Burdwan.
The Late legend Abbasuddin Ahmed, who is popularily known as the emperor of folk songs, had collected folk songs from all over Bengal and brought them to Calcutta and convinced HMV and got it recorded about sixty years ago and the city people were crazy after hearing it. They became aware of the grat treasures of folk song that were scattered in the villages.
Next time when you are in Calcutta visit one of the HMV retail shops and ask for the collection of Abbasuddin Ahmed.
Do you have any collections of folk music and songs??
Masud
