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Baul
The Baul () are a group of mystic minstrels of mixed elements of Sufism and Vaishnavism from different parts of Bangladesh and the neighboring Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam's Barak Valley and Meghalaya. Bauls constitute both a religious syncretism, syncretic religious sect of troubadours and a musical tradition. Bauls are a very heterogeneous group, with many sects, but their membership mainly consists of Vaishnavism, Vaishnava Hindus and Sufism, Sufi Muslims. They can often be identified by their distinctive clothes and musical instruments. Lalon, Lalon Shah is regarded as the most celebrated Baul saint in history. Although Bauls constitute only a small fraction of the Bengali population, their influence on the culture of Bengal is considerable. In 2005, the "Baul tradition of Bangladesh" was included in the list of Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Fakir Lalon Shah
Lalon (; died 17 October 1890), also known as Lalon Shah, Lalon Fakir, Shahji, was a Bengalis, Bengali spiritual leader, philosopher, mystic poet and social reformer. Regarded as an icon of Culture of Bengal, Bengali culture, he inspired and influenced many philosophers, poets and social thinkers including Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Allen Ginsberg. Lalon's philosophy of humanity rejects all distinctions of Caste system in India, caste, class, and creed and takes stand against theological conflicts and racism. It denies all worldly affairs in search of the soul and embodied the socially transformative role of sub-continental Bhakti and Sufism. Lalon founded the institute known as Lalon Akhra in Cheuriya, about from Kushtia railway station in southwestern Bangladesh. His disciples dwell mostly in Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam’s Barak valley. Every year on the occasion of his death anniversary, thousands of his disciples and follo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Lalon
Lalon (; died 17 October 1890), also known as Lalon Shah, Lalon Fakir, Shahji, was a Bengali spiritual leader, philosopher, mystic poet and social reformer. Regarded as an icon of Bengali culture, he inspired and influenced many philosophers, poets and social thinkers including Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Allen Ginsberg. Lalon's philosophy of humanity rejects all distinctions of caste, class, and creed and takes stand against theological conflicts and racism. It denies all worldly affairs in search of the soul and embodied the socially transformative role of sub-continental Bhakti and Sufism. Lalon founded the institute known as Lalon Akhra in Cheuriya, about from Kushtia railway station in southwestern Bangladesh. His disciples dwell mostly in Bangladesh and Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura and Assam’s Barak valley. Every year on the occasion of his death anniversary, thousands of his disciples and followers assemble at Lalon Akhra and pay homage to hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Ektara Player
The ''ektara'' (, , , , , ; literally 'one-string', also called ''actara'', ''iktar'', ''ektar'', , ''yaktaro'', ''gopichand'', ''gopichant'', ''golki'' , ''gopijiantra'', ''tun tuna'') is a one-stringed musical instrument used in the traditional music of the Indian subcontinent, and used in modern-day music of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Two-stringed versions are called ''dotara'' (two strings), a name which also applies to other instruments. In origin, the ''ektara'' was a regular string instrument of wandering bards and minstrels from India and is plucked with one finger. The ''ektara'' is a drone lute consisting of a gourd resonator covered with skin, through which a bamboo neck is inserted. It is used in parts of India and Nepal today by Yogis and wandering holy men to accompany their singing and prayers. In Nepal, the instrument accompanies the singing of the Ramayana and Mahabharata. Three different instruments used in modern India and not necessarily related ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Culture Of Bengal
The culture of Bengal defines the cultural heritage of the Bengali people native to eastern regions of the Indian subcontinent, mainly what is today Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura, where they form the dominant ethnolinguistic group and the Bengali language is the official and primary language. Bengal has a recorded history of 1,400 years. After the partition, Bangladeshi culture became distinct from the mainstream Bengali culture, thus their culture evolved differently, still there are many commonalities in Bangladeshi culture & West Bengali culture which connects them both together as Bengali culture. The Bengalis are the dominant ethnolinguistic group. The Bengal region has been a historical melting point, blending indigenous traditions with cosmopolitan influences from pan-Indian subcontinental empires. Dhaka (Dacca) became the capital of Mughal Bengal (Bengal Subah) and the commercial (financial) capital (1610-1757) of Mughal India. Dhaka ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Religious Syncretism
Religious syncretism is the blending of religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation of other beliefs into an existing religious tradition. This can occur for many reasons, where religious traditions exist in proximity to each other, or when a culture is conquered and the conquerors bring their religious beliefs with them, but do not succeed in eradicating older beliefs and practices. Many religions have syncretic elements, but adherents often frown upon the application of the label, especially those who belong to "revealed" religions, such as Abrahamic religions, or any system with an exclusivist approach, seeing syncretism as corrupting the original religion. Non-exclusivist systems of belief on the other hand feel more free to incorporate other traditions into their own. Ancient history Classical Athens was exclusive in matters of religion. Some sources assert that the Decree of Diopeithes made the introduction of and belief in foreign gods a crimin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
West Bengal
West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of as of 2011. The population estimate as of 2023 is 99,723,000. West Bengal is the List of states and union territories of India by population, fourth-most populous and List of states and union territories of India by area, thirteenth-largest state by area in India, as well as the List of first-level administrative divisions by population, eighth-most populous country subdivision of the world. As a part of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also borders the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the List of metropolitan areas in India, third-largest metropolis, and List of cities in I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Bengal proper is divided between the modern-day sovereign nation of Bangladesh and the States and union territories of India, Indian states of West Bengal, and Karimganj district of Assam. The ancient Vanga Kingdom is widely regarded as the namesake of the Bengal region. The Bengali calendar dates back to the reign of Shashanka in the 7th century CE. The Pala Empire was founded in Bengal during the 8th century. The Sena dynasty and Deva dynasty ruled between the 11th and 13th centuries. By the 14th century, Bengal was absorbed by Muslim conquests in the Indian subcontinent. An independent Bengal Sultanate was formed and became the eastern frontier of the Islamic world. During this period, Bengal's rule and influence spread to Assam, Arakan, Tri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Its followers are called Vaishnavites or ''Vaishnava''s (), and it includes sub-sects like Krishnaism and Ramanandi Sampradaya, Ramaism, which consider Krishna and Rama as the supreme beings respectively. According to a 2020 estimate by The World Religion Database (WRD), hosted at Boston University’s Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs (CURA), Vaishnavism is the largest Hindu sect, constituting about 399 million Hindus. The ancient emergence of Vaishnavism is unclear, and broadly hypothesized as a History of Hinduism, fusion of various regional non-Vedic religions with worship of Vishnu. It is considered a merger of several popular non-Vedic theistic traditio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by population density, most densely populated with a population of over 171 million within an area of . Bangladesh shares land borders with India to the north, west, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast. It has a coastline along the Bay of Bengal to its south and is separated from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor, and from China by the List of Indian states, Indian state of Sikkim to its north. Dhaka, the capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city, is the nation's political, financial, and cultural centre. Chittagong is the second-largest city and the busiest port of the country. The territory of modern Bangladesh was a stronghold of many List of Buddhist kingdoms and empires, Buddhist and List of Hindu empir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Kartabhaja
The Kartabhaja (), also known as the Kartabhaja Sampradaya (), literally, the Worshippers of the Master, is a religious community of West Bengal in eastern India, which came into prominence in the mid 18th century. It had a significant following in the late 18th century and early 19th century, but its following declined considerably in the early 20th century. The founder of this community was Aulchand or Aulechand ( 1686-1769), about whom very little is known, except a number of legends. Significant early leaders of this community were Ramsharan Pal, a disciple of Aulchand, his wife Sarasvati, popularly known as ''Sati Ma'' and their son Dulalchandra Pal. Under their leadership, Ghoshpara village (presently, a neighbourhood of Kalyani city) in Nadia district became a major centre of activities and later a ''pitha'' for the sect. An annual fair in Ghoshpara, known as the ''Sati Mar Dol Mela'', is held in honour of ''Sati Ma'' on the day of ''Dol Purnima'' in February/March ever ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
