December 23, 2024 06:52 am (IST)
Follow us:
facebook-white sharing button
twitter-white sharing button
instagram-white sharing button
youtube-white sharing button
Mohali building collapse: Death toll rises to 2, many feared trapped for 17 hours | 4-year-old killed after speeding car driven by a teen hits him in Mumbai | PM Modi attends opening ceremony of Arabian Gulf Cup in Kuwait | Jaipur gas tanker crash: Toll touches 14, 30 critical | Arrest warrant against former cricketer Robin Uthappa over 'PF fraud' | PM Modi emplanes for a visit to Kuwait | German Christmas market car attack leaves 2 dead, Saudi Arabian doctor arrested | India, France come together to build world's largest museum in Delhi's Raisina Hill | Canada, US presented no evidence of Indians' involvement in purported criminal acts: Centre informs Parliament amid 'serious allegations' | Delhi Police Crime Branch to investigate FIR against Rahul Gandhi over Parliament tussle

Banglanatok.com showcases project to preserve folk musics

| | Oct 19, 2014, at 01:28 am
#Banglanatok.com showcases project to preserve folk musics
Kolkata, Oct 18 (IBNS) A Kolkata-based organisation "Banglanatok.com" showcased their project at the American Centre to preserve three genres of traditional folk musics- Bhawaiya songs of North Bengal, Bhatiali songs of Sunderbans in South Bengal and Bangla Qawwali of Kolkata.
The organisation also won a prestigious grant from the Ambassadors Fund for the Cultural Preservation (AFCP) which was announced by the director of the Council Joanna Joria.
 
Amitava Bhattacharya, director and founder of "Banglanatok.com", was present at the media interaction and introduced the performers of three different music genres. There were two group of performers, one representing Bangla Qawwali and other the Bhawaiya.
 
He also spoke about the loss of these Bengali music traditions which are now slowly fading away from the modern music and are at a point of near extinction.
 
During the entire press interaction, Bhattacharya stressed on the need of preservation of 'our intangible Bengali culture'.
 
A mining engineer from IIT Kharagpur, Bhattacharya worked for an Indian IT major abroad for a decade before plunging into entrepreneurship in 2000.
 
Bhattacharya said, " Heritage is of different nature. Tangible heritage, intangible heritage and natural heritage. Banglanatok.com is a social enterprise focusing on intangible cultural heritage and West Bengal is certainly a huge gold mine for that."
 
Pausing for a while, the director said, "If we look at the North Bengal, the best of the music there is Bhawaiya music. In the middle of the Bengal there is Burdwan, Murshidabad and from there Baul Fakiri music originates."
 
Baul has become quite common these days. Baul Fakiri music is a form of music which is known as "Bangla Qawwali".
 
"But now this form has become extinct for more than hundred years. In the areas of Sunderbans, we will find Bhawaiya. Our project covers 50 Bhawaiya songs, 50 Bangla Qawwali songs and 50 Bhatiyali and releasing 2 CD's of each form. Along with this we have also planned to come out with the Bangla Qawwali book with a synopsis in English," he said.
 
The director then talked about how people, life, culture and even Bhatiyali music got effected after the arrival of cyclone "Aila".
 
Bhattacharya also expressed his gratitude towards AFCP for supporting the project of preserving and safeguarding Bengal's cultural heritage.
 
 
 
(Reporting by Prashanti Banerjee, Images by Somnath Roy Chowdhury/IBNS)
 

Support Our Journalism

We cannot do without you.. your contribution supports unbiased journalism

IBNS is not driven by any ism- not wokeism, not racism, not skewed secularism, not hyper right-wing or left liberal ideals, nor by any hardline religious beliefs or hyper nationalism. We want to serve you good old objective news, as they are. We do not judge or preach. We let people decide for themselves. We only try to present factual and well-sourced news.

Support objective journalism for a small contribution.
Related Images
Kolkata celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi
Kolkata celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi Sep 08, 2024, at 01:51 am
Models walk the ramp for THEUNISSEN at the Paris Fashion Week
Models walk the ramp for THEUNISSEN at the Paris Fashion Week Mar 03, 2024, at 04:38 am
Gauchere showcases Fall 2024 Ready-to-Wear collection at the Paris Fashion Week
Gauchere showcases Fall 2024 Ready-to-Wear collection at the Paris Fashion Week Mar 03, 2024, at 04:32 am