‘Bauls’ sing and dance, in order to clean the mirror of heart and extinguish the fire of suffering. Parvati Baul
New Delhi : Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with Datri Foundation and Ekthara kalari in continuation of the two-day program on ‘Baul music and Tradition’, included in UNESCO’s list of “Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity”, held the second day of event in its premises . The two day event named “The World of The Bauls: A glimpse into the World of Bauls” concluded today at IGNCA, Janpath road, Near Western Court, New Delhi. In full day event , walkthrough of the exhibition on ‘Baul’ tradition , presentation on Bauls by Parvati Baul, Visvanath Baul , film screenings on Bauls and there was a panel discussion on ‘Yoga of Bauls’ happened. The evening concluded with ‘Baul Satsang’.
Parvati Baul while speaking at the event in answer to a question Why do Bauls sing and dance? She answered the question by saying,” ‘Bauls’ sing and dance, it is in order to clean the mirror of heart and extinguish the fire of suffering. It is also in order to receive the benediction of the moon as new light. It is also in order to taste the nectar of joy of wisdom and knowledge we sing and dance.” Earlier in the day there was a walkthrough of the exhibition on ‘Baul Tradition’ where Parvati Baul explained about different aspects ‘Baul’ tradition ‘Baul’ that how ‘Baul’ has been part of ‘Oral Tradition’ and also added that this is part of imagination of the practitioner and visual manifestation of ‘Baul’ music.
During the presentation on ‘Baul’ tradition Parvati Baul , Vishvanath Baul and Madan Baul answered question pertaining to ‘Baul’ tradition. Parvati Baul said Baul tradition requires an initiation and does happen organically thereafter. It further came to the fore that in ‘Baul’ tradition one need to find a guru and it knows your body through a guru. The presentation was followed up by film screening on ‘Baul’ tradition where a film by Dr. Sachidanand Joshi Member Secretary, IGNCA on ‘Baul’ tradition was screened.
There was a panel discussion on the topic ‘Yoga and Bauls’ took place in which Parvati Baul, Prof. Suniti Kumar Pathak, a lady of German origin Krishnakanta , Sukanya Sarbadhikari, Manjari Sinha , Sumit Dey participated. In this panel discussion different aspect ‘Baul’ music, dance and yoga were discussed. Eventually the evening ended with ‘Baul Satsang’ which was performed by Parvati Baul and other ‘Baul’ masters.