Poush Mela.......Portrait of A Fakir Singer
Mansoor Fakir from Gorbhanga (Ajahar Fakir's Majar), Nadia, one of the finest folk singers of Bengal, performing at Poush Mela......
Fakirs of Bengal
Ever since Islam came to Bengal in the 13th century it participated, via a merging of Sufi inputs with vernacular strands of Vaisnavism (Vishnuism), tantrism and local folk cults, in a very rich blend of religious beliefs and practices in the lower strata of the society. The Fakir (Sufi ascetic), as a sub-section of the Bengali Bául with a more or less defined Muslim identity, are at present the largest group in Bengal perpetuating this form of 'Islamic syncretistic tradition'.
Lalan Shah or Lalan Fakir (?1774-?1890) is a product and proponent of purely Bengali syncretism. His writings and his teachings tell a story of merging Hinduism and Islam into a universalistic religion transcending the boundaries of any single religion.
The Hindu Baul and the Muslim Fakir share the same tenets of an mystic quest based on the intimate human-divine connection within every human being, cultivated through a philosophy and practices that emphasize the human body as locus and means for finding the essence of God. The path is taught in the traditional guru-disciple relationship where the guru is like the figure of the Sufi saint, in whom the divine is accomplished, merged with the human.
More: openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/17365/ISIM...
Poush Mela 2011, Santiniketan
Images of Bengal, India
© 2012 Pallab Seth
Poush Mela.......Portrait of A Fakir Singer
Mansoor Fakir from Gorbhanga (Ajahar Fakir's Majar), Nadia, one of the finest folk singers of Bengal, performing at Poush Mela......
Fakirs of Bengal
Ever since Islam came to Bengal in the 13th century it participated, via a merging of Sufi inputs with vernacular strands of Vaisnavism (Vishnuism), tantrism and local folk cults, in a very rich blend of religious beliefs and practices in the lower strata of the society. The Fakir (Sufi ascetic), as a sub-section of the Bengali Bául with a more or less defined Muslim identity, are at present the largest group in Bengal perpetuating this form of 'Islamic syncretistic tradition'.
Lalan Shah or Lalan Fakir (?1774-?1890) is a product and proponent of purely Bengali syncretism. His writings and his teachings tell a story of merging Hinduism and Islam into a universalistic religion transcending the boundaries of any single religion.
The Hindu Baul and the Muslim Fakir share the same tenets of an mystic quest based on the intimate human-divine connection within every human being, cultivated through a philosophy and practices that emphasize the human body as locus and means for finding the essence of God. The path is taught in the traditional guru-disciple relationship where the guru is like the figure of the Sufi saint, in whom the divine is accomplished, merged with the human.
More: openaccess.leidenuniv.nl/bitstream/handle/1887/17365/ISIM...
Poush Mela 2011, Santiniketan
Images of Bengal, India
© 2012 Pallab Seth