Download or read book Seeking Bauls of Bengal written by Jeanne Openshaw and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2002-07-25 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The author charts the rise of Bauls to their present iconic status as minstrels and mystics.
Download or read book Women Religion and the Body in South Asia written by Kristin Hanssen and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-04-19 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Noted for their haunting melodies and enigmatic lyrics, Bauls have been portrayed as spiritually enlightened troubadours traveling around the countryside in West Bengal in India and in Bangladesh. As emblems of Bengali culture, Bauls have long been a subject of scholarly debates which center on their esoteric practices, and middle class imaginaries of the category Baul. Adding to this literature, the intimate ethnography presented in this book recounts the life stories of members from a single family, shining light on their past and present tribulations bound up with being poor and of a lowly caste. It shows that taking up the Baul path is a means of softening the stigma of their lower caste identity in that religious practice, where women play a key role, renders the body pure. The path is also a source of monetary income in that begging is considered part of their vocation. For women, the Baul path has the added implication of lessening constraints of gender. While the book describes a family of singers, it also portrays the wider society in which they live, showing how their lives connect and interlace with other villagers, a theme not previously explored in literature on Bauls. A novel approach to the study of women, the body and religion, this book will be of interest to undergraduates and graduates in the field of the anthropology. In addition, it will appeal to students of everyday religious lives as experienced by the poor, through case studies in South Asia. The book provides further evidence that renunciation in South Asia is not a uniform path, despite claims to the contrary. There is also a special interest in Bauls among those familiar with the Bengali speaking region. While this book speaks to that interest, its wider appeal lies in the light it sheds on religion, the body, life histories, and poverty.
Download or read book Baulsphere written by Mimlu Sen and published by Random House India. This book was released on 2012-02-22 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Freewheeling Mimlu Sen lives in Paris, where one day she witnesses an electrifying performance by three Bauls, mystic minstrels from Bengal, who spin like pillars of dust. Their music inspires her to return to Calcutta, and to go on an extraordinary journey with one of them, Paban Das Baul, from her respectable home in the city to his humble village, and further on, into the verdant Bengali countryside that is their common heritage. Paban takes Mimlu through the itinerant Baul’s route—from the festival at Kenduli with its marathon performances, to tranquil Shantiniketan, where Bauls frequently stop en route and disrupt quotidian life; Agrodwip, deep in the Vaishnava world, to Nabasana, where mesmerizing guru Hari Goshain presides over Baul games and ultimately, her initiation; and to Boral, where she holds her own big Baul festival, a mahatsava. Along the way, she encounters tantrics and tribals, exorcisms and witch sightings, catfish that climb trees and esoteric sexo-yogic secrets—and she falls in love. Baulsphere takes you into the heart of rural Bengal, and into the fascinating world of the Bauls. Passionate, enthralling and searingly lyrical, it is a stunning book.
Download or read book Contradictory Lives written by Lisa I. Knight and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-10 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the popular imagination, Bauls in West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh are depicted as a sect of musical mendicants with flowing hair clad in ocher-colored clothes and carrying a one-stringed instrument. Their popularity stems from their mystical songs and their carefree, whimsical behavior. Somewhat less celebrated are Baul beliefs and practices: they are fiercely opposed to the caste system and sectarianism and, at least in the context of their sexo-yogic rituals and philosophy, extol women over men. Despite the importance of women among Bauls, scholarly and popular discourses on Bauls marginalize Baul women by depicting the ideal Baul as male and as unencumbered by social constraints and worldly concerns. For Baul women, these ideals pose distinct challenges to their position and reputation as women in rural Bengal, where gendered norms limit womens actions. However, as musical performers hoping for patronage, behaving as a Baul can ensure their livelihood. This book shows how Baul women interpret and respond to these various constructions of gender and Baul identity and suggests that Baul women are encumbered actors. It argues that Baul women negotiate their identity, position, and life choices in light of contradictory expectations of appropriate behavior for Bengali women and for Bauls. It demonstrates that Baul women draw on the very tools of their encumbering to create for themselves a meaningful life and a more just society. As they sing, wander, take renunciation, and raise a family, they expand ideas about both women and Bauls in Bengal. --Publisher description.
Download or read book The Mirror of the Sky written by and published by UNESCO Collection of Represent. This book was released on 1999 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Throughout their 600-year history the Bauls of Bengal, India have kept no official scriptures. Their esoteric spiritual teachings on the use of breath, sex and devotion are encoded in the words of their songs/poems. This is a translation of 204 songs, including an extensive introduction to the history and faith of the Bauls, and the composition of their music. Includes a CD of authentic Baul artists, recorded over the last forty years -- an exquisite presentation of a rarely documented genre.
Download or read book Folklore Religion and the Songs of a Bengali Madman written by Carola Lorea and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2016-08-01 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, Lorea explores the relationship between Bengali folklore, heterodox religious movements and politics of cultural representation through the contextual study of the eccentric guru Bhaba Pagla (1902-1984), his ecstatic songs and their performers.
Download or read book The Music of the Bauls of Bengal written by Charles Capwell and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book B ul Philosophy written by Pūrṇadāsa Bāula and published by APH Publishing. This book was released on 2003 with total page 600 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Bauls of Bengal written by Rebati Mohan Sarkar and published by Gyan Publishing House. This book was released on 1990 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A well-researched work based on long term field investigations amongst Bauls of Bengal, the community of singers with rich cultural heritage. The study centers around the different facets of their life and thought, basic understanding of their philosophy, sadhana as well as their day-to-day struggle for basic existence. Page: 6 14:06 Tuesday 16/05/00 The Title 'Bauls of Bengal: In the Quest of Man of the Heart written/authored/edited by R.M. Sarkar', published in the year 2003. The ISBN 9788121203203 is assigned to the Hardcover version of this title. This book has total of pp. 314 (Pages). The publisher of this title is Gyan Publishing House. This Book is in English. The subject of this book is Anthropology / Tribal Studies/MUSIC / THEATRE / Art
Download or read book The Place of the Hidden Moon written by Edward C. Dimock and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 1989-10-15 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Vaisnava-sahajiya cult that arose in Bengal in the sixteenth century was an intensely emotional attempt to reconcile the sensual and the ascetic. Exploring the history and doctrine of this cult, Edward C. Dimock, Jr., examines the works of numerous poets who are the source of knowledge about this sect. Dimock examines the life of the saint Caitanya, the mad Baul singers, the doctrines of Tantrism, the origins of the figure of Radha, and the worship of Krishna. His study will appeal to students of the history of religion as well as of Indian culture. This edition includes a new Foreword by Wendy Doniger. "This is a magnificent book—painstakingly researched and gracefully written. . . . Professor Dimock's book is one of the most rewarding and stimulating studies to appear in recent years."—G. Richard Weldon, Journal of Asian Studies
Download or read book Nine Lives written by William Dalrymple and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2010-06-07 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Buddhist monk takes up arms to resist the Chinese invasion of Tibet - then spends the rest of his life trying to atone for the violence by hand printing the best prayer flags in India. A Jain nun tests her powers of detachment as she watches her best friend ritually starve herself to death. Nine people, nine lives; each one taking a different religious path, each one an unforgettable story. William Dalrymple delves deep into the heart of a nation torn between the relentless onslaught of modernity and the ancient traditions that endure to this day. LONGLISTED FOR THE BBC SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE
Download or read book The Path of the Mystic Lover written by Bhaskar Bhattacharyya and published by Inner Traditions / Bear & Co. This book was released on 1993-03 with total page 230 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carrying on the living tradition of mystic minstrels, the Bauls roam the countryside of eastern India enacting the spiritual love dalliance of Radha and Krishna through songs and dances. The Path of the Mystic Lover explores the Bauls' lifestyle and philosophy, describing their sexual and ritual practices as well as their sacred teachings.
Download or read book The Music of the Bauls of Bengal written by Charles Capwell and published by . This book was released on 1986 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book City of Mirrors written by Lālana Śāha and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2017 with total page 649 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Carol Salomon dedicated over thirty years of her life to researching, translating, and annotating this compilation of songs by the Bengali poet and mystical philosopher Lalan Sai (popularly transliterated as Lalon) who lived in the village of Cheuriya in Bengal in the latter half of the nineteenth century. One major objective of his lyrical riddles was to challenge the restrictions of cultural, political, and sexual identity, and his songs accordingly express a longing to understand humanity, its duties, and its ultimate destiny. His songs also contain thinly veiled references to esoteric yogic practices (sadhana), including body-centered Hathayogic techniques that are related to those found in Buddhist, Kaula, Natha, and Sufi medieval tantric literature. Dr. Salomon's translation of the work is the first dedicated English translation of Lalan's songs to closely follow the Bangla text, with all of its dialectical variations, and is here produced alongside the original text. Although her untimely death left her work unpublished, the editors have worked diligently to reconstruct her translations from her surviving printed and handwritten manuscripts. The result is a finished product that can finally share her groundbreaking scholarship on Baul traditions with the world.
Download or read book Along Deep Lonely Alleys written by Sudhīra Cakrabartī and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Anecdotal stories revolving around the life and musical traditions of Bauls, the mystical minstrels.
Download or read book Applied Hinduism written by GYAN. RAJHANS and published by . This book was released on 2018-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Honey Gatherers written by Mimlu Sen and published by Random House. This book was released on 2010-05-06 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mimlu Sen is living a bohemian life in Paris when she witnesses an electrifying performance by three wandering minstrels from rural India. They wear flowing, multicoloured robes and play frenetic rhythms on strange instruments made of wood and clay, capturing the many moods of nature and passion. After her turbulent past, including a year in a Calcutta jail, Mimlu instantly knows it is time to set off on the journey of her life. One of the minstrels, Paban Das Baul, is a gifted young musician with a growing international reputation. Mimlu defies prejudice to travel with him deep into the heart of Bengal, the rural hinterland behind Calcutta where few tourists ever go. In this fascinating and unusual book, she describes how they make their way across country, from shanty town to village, from monastery to festival, perched on the roofs of buses and squeezed inside trains, encountering tantrics and sages, exorcisms and witch sightings, catfish that climb trees and esoteric secrets - and fall in love. With Paban's encouragement, Mimlu too performs for alms - 'gathering honey' in the traditional Baul way - and is initiated into a hidden world of song, sensuality and adventure as wild and unpredictable as the landscape itself.
