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Knowing yourself is the essence of Baul Fakiri music, which reflects the joy, love and longing for mystical union with the Divine. Living the life of an esoteric, denouncing the material world, they urge people to rise above the divides created by caste, creed and religion to find peace.

Do not look for God anywhere, look for Him in the human body. Only then you will get Him, feel Him and you will be able to know yourself too. The Baul-Fakirs have been practicing this from and conveying the message of peace all over the world through this at a time, when the whole world is divided in different factions like economic religious, cultural, racial etc. Rabindranath Tagore realized the power of this music long ago. Many of his songs have been influenced by Baul songs. He has had long association with many Bauls.  The Bauls- Fakirs think one can free oneself from earthly attachments through their belief. Murshid or Guru is the steersman who takes the devotee to God. Respecting, following the path and total belief in Murshid is the way of their life. The main purpose of Bauls is detachment from earthly bonds or ties. They want to dissolve into a greater ease with God. The urge to be with God, the pain of not getting Him, the sorrow of one’s inability, prayer for being with Guru etc. all these are conveyed through their music. They reject division of caste, creed, religion etc. and believe of knowing God with profound admiration by self sacrificing and belief. The artists of these songs are marginal people. They live in different districts of West Bengal relatively more in numbers at Birbhum, Nadia, Bardhaman,  Bankura and Murshidabad.

Biographies of Baul lyricists



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