Purna chandra das baul biography of mahatma

Vidya Iyer Views: Rishi Abhratanu. Lydian Nadhaswaram. Kailas Menon. Nirmala Mishra. Varijashree Venugopal. Vangapandu Prasada Rao. Sayani Palit. Rose Muralikrishnan. Today Purna Das is the most popular exponent of Baul music. Rajendra Prasad in Purna Das has appeared on radio, television and in films worldwide both as a singer and music director.

Purna Das has participated in many storytelling festivals, and has given workshops at numerous universities around the world. The authentic exponent of traditional Baul, Dibyendu Das is a baul of nine generation. Retrieved 21 June Archived from the original on 17 September Archived from the original on 7 March Retrieved 2 March Rough Guides.

Retrieved 24 March Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 21 July External links [ edit ]. Recipients of Padma Shri in Art. Sorcar Guru Kunchu Kurup V. Husain Sumitra Charat Ram P. Bendre S. Burman B. Swamy artist It reminded me to my early childhood when my mother, grandmother and I stayed in a house in the Austrian countryside after the war.

Early next morning, Purna Das, his wife Manju Das, his three sons Babu, Bapi and Chotton and I squeezed into a light-blue Maruti mini-van and drove to Shantiniketan where we picked up three musicians that were to accompany Purna Das during the performance at Joydeb. It was hot, dusty and extremely uncomfortable sitting in the crowded car. As we drove on a small country road over pothole after pothole and dodged one head-on collision with a truck after another, we were all getting somewhat irritable.

All of a sudden, Manju Das began singing a Baul song. It was as if she waved a magic wand. The mood changed instantaneously from being irritable to joyous. Everybody in the car started singing, and we arrived in Kenduli elated. I did not want to get out of the car when I saw the mass of people that surrounded us. The ocean of excited faces staring at us was scary to me.

Out of exuberance over the arrival of Purna Das, people were shaking the car. The side door opened and Purna Das stepped out of the car unperturbed and smiling. I was scared to get out, and I was even more scared to be left behind. I was terrified of getting lost. In later years, I learned that there was never any chance of me getting lost.

I may not have known where I was, but everybody among the thousands of people attending Joydeb knew exactly where I was at any time. I was one of, perhaps, two or three Westerners that attended the mela.

Purna chandra das baul biography of mahatma

During my first trip to IndiaI still thought like a Westerner. I had not yet learned the Indian way. The Ways of the Bauls. Though most Bauls are poor, their spirit is rich due to non-attachment to external things. Outwardly they wear the garb of a beggar but, inwardly, they delight in the wealth of bliss. Established in his sadhana, the Baul sings with the freedom of a soul without shackles.

Baul songs are mystical, poetic and multi-layered. Underneath the obvious meaning of words, lie deep meanings that cannot be properly understood by a person who does not practice sadhana. Secrets of Baul sadhana are given openly in hidden language. That beauty leaves me speechless. An aspirant may live in the world, but the world should not live within him.

The Baul sips like a bee, as it were, the most suitable nectar from Hinduism, tantric Buddhism and Sufi Islam and distills this concoction into a honey that gives him an intoxicating direct experience of God. This approach to God is perceived as too unconventional by people who lack the freedom and willingness to comprehend. Breaking conventional social customs, Bauls deliberately dress in both Hindu and Muslim garments.

They embrace all, disregarding religious, caste and social restrictions. The village of Kenduli has been built up quite a bit since I attended Joydeb Mela inand the number of people attending this festival has dramatically increased. Purna Das Baul, who was one of the first Bauls to bring Baul songs and philosophy to the drawing rooms of Kolkata and the rest of the world, has done much to spread awareness of Baul traditions.

He collaborated with Nabani Das Baul, supported him financially and gave him land for a Baul institution. While the popularity of the Bauls brought material success to some, it did more harm than good to the true Bauls who practice serious sadhana. It brought an influx of shilpisprofessional singers, who dress like Bauls and sing Baul songs for money but do not practice Baul sadhana.

According to some estimates, there were over shilpis at the Joydeb Mela, almost outnumbering the real Bauls. The shilpis cash in the rupees while the real Bauls are still poor.