Striking right notes: Baul & Bhatiali singers from Bengal win hearts at global concert

kolkata: Baul music has received accolades in the European music circle and people across the globe have been touched by the ancient form of vocal music.

Rina Das Baul, becomes the first woman artiste from Bengal who had performed at WOMEX, one of the largest music platform globally, at Lisbon, Portugal on October 21.

Her performance had great impact on the audience and she was invited to perform at Respect Festival in Czeck Republic. Rina and her team was invited to perform at the European Broadcast union studio at WOMEX.

Rina Das Baul hails from Santiniketan. She sang songs composed by Chandidas and Ananta Gosai. She was accompanied by Dibakar, (Dotara player and back up vocal), Purno, (Dotara Khamak), both of them are from Santiniketan. Bama (Dugi/vocal) from Suri and Khokon (Dhol/ Khol) from Murshidabad. Three-day baul and Folk festival was held in London in connection with Kali Puja. Well-known Baul singer Babu Fakir and Bhatiali singer Saurav Mani performed at the festival while Dokra artisan from East Burdwan Subho Karmakar showcased his work there. The baul and Bhatiali singers had such impact on the audience that they had been invited to perform at the University of London. The festival concluded on Wednesday. The artistes were given financial support by the state MSME department and UNESCO supported Rural Craft and Cultural Hub Project ( RCCH).

After coming to power in 2011, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee gave special emphasis on folk culture and artistes. The folk musicians were given musical instruments free of cost and around 2 lakh folk artistes across the state are given monthly stipend. The folk artistes are offered to perform at regular programmes in the fairs that are held throughout Bengal.