1.
Baul
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The Baul are a group of mystic minstrels from Bengal which includes Indian State of West Bengal and the country of Bangladesh. Bauls constitute both a religious sect and a musical tradition. Bauls are a heterogeneous group, with many sects, but their membership mainly consists of Vaishnava Hindus. They can often be identified by their clothes and musical instruments. Not much is known of their origin, Lalon Fokir is regarded as the most important poet-practitioner of the Baul tradition. Baul music had a influence on Rabindranath Tagores poetry and on his music. Though Bauls comprise only a fraction of the Bengali population. In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of Masterpieces of the Oral, the word Baul has its etymological origin in the Sanskrit word Vātūla and is used for someone who is possessed or crazy. Bauls are an extension of the Sahajiya philosophy, which in turn derives from the Nath tradition and they believe in living the world as a half-sanyasi. The origin of the word Baul is debated, the origin of Bauls is not known exactly, but the word Baul has appeared in Bengali texts as old as the 15th century. The word is found in the Chaitanya Bhagavata of Vrindavana Dasa Thakura as well as in the Chaitanya Charitamrita of Krishnadasa Kaviraja, some scholars maintain that it is not clear when the word took its sectarian significance, as opposed to being a synonym for the word madcap, agitated. The beginning of the Baul movement was attributed to Birbhadra, the son of the Vaishnavite saint Nityananda, Bauls are a part of the culture of rural Bengal. Whatever their origin, Baul thought has mixed elements of Tantra, Sufi Islam and they are thought to have been influenced by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas, as well as Tantric Vaishnava schools like the Vaishnava-Sahajiya. Some scholars find traces of these thoughts in the ancient practices of Yoga as well as the Charyapadas, the Bauls themselves attribute their lack of historical records to their reluctance to leave traces behind. Dr. Jeanne Openshaw writes that the music of the Bauls appears to have passed down entirely in oral form until the end of the 19th century. The Bauls were recorded as a sect as early as mid 18th century. Regarding the origins of the sect, one recent theory suggests that Bauls are descendants of a branch of Sufism called baal, votaries of this sect of Sufism in Iran, dating back to the 8th-9th centuries, were fond of music and participated in secret devotional practices. They used to roam about the desert singing, like other Sufis, they also entered the South Asian subcontinent and spread out in various directions
2.
Mysticism
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Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, the term mysticism has Ancient Greek origins with various historically determined meanings. Derived from the Greek word μυω, meaning to conceal, mysticism referred to the liturgical, spiritual. During the early period, the definition of mysticism grew to include a broad range of beliefs. In modern times, mysticism has acquired a limited definition, with applications, as meaning the aim at the union with the Absolute. This limited definition has been applied to a range of religious traditions and practices. Since the 1960s scholars have debated the merits of perennial and constructionist approaches in the research of mystical experiences. The perennial position is now largely dismissed by scholars, most scholars using a contextual approach, Mysticism is derived from the Greek μυω, meaning I conceal, and its derivative μυστικός, mystikos, meaning an initiate. The verb μυώ has received a different meaning in the Greek language. The primary meanings it has are induct and initiate, secondary meanings include introduce, make someone aware of something, train, familiarize, give first experience of something. The related form of the verb appears in the New Testament. As explained in Strongs Concordance, it properly means shutting the eyes and its figurative meaning is to be initiated into the mystery revelation. The meaning derives from the rites of the pagan mysteries. Also appearing in the New Testament is the related noun μυστήριον, the term means anything hidden, a mystery or secret, of which initiation is necessary. According to Thayers Greek Lexicon, the term μυστήριον in classical Greek meant a hidden thing, a particular meaning it took in Classical antiquity was a religious secret or religious secrets, confided only to the initiated and not to be communicated by them to ordinary mortals. In the Septuagint and the New Testament the meaning it took was that of a purpose or counsel. It is sometimes used for the hidden wills of humans, but is often used for the hidden will of God. Elsewhere in the Bible it takes the meaning of the mystic or hidden sense of things and it is used for the secrets behind sayings, names, or behind images seen in visions and dreams
3.
Bengal
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Bengal is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in Asia, which is located in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Geographically, it is made up by the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta system, in 2011, the population of Bengal was estimated to be 250 million, making it the most densely populated region in South Asia. An estimated 160 million people live in Bangladesh, while 91.3 million people live in West Bengal, the predominant ethno-linguistic group are the Bengali people, who speak the Indo-Aryan Bengali language. Bengali Muslims are the majority in Bangladesh, Bengali Hindus are the majority in West Bengal. Dense woodlands, including rainforests, cover Bengals northern and eastern areas. In the littoral southwest are the Sunderbans, the worlds largest mangrove forest, in the coastal southeast lies Coxs Bazaar, the longest beach in the world at 125 km. The region has a climate, which the Bengali calendar divides into six seasons. Bengal has played a role in the history of Asia. In antiquity, its kingdoms were known as seafaring nations, at times an independent regional empire, or a bastion of larger empires, the historical region was a leading power of the Indian subcontinent and the Islamic East. Bengali culture has had a significant influence on other cultures, especially in the fields of literature, music, art, architecture, sports, currency, commerce, politics and cuisine. The name of Bengal is derived from the ancient kingdom of Banga, theories on the origin of the term Banga point to the Proto-Dravidian Bong tribe that settled in the area circa 1000 BCE and the Austric word Bong. The term Bangaladesa is used to describe the region in 11th century South Indian records, the modern term Bangla is prominent from the 14th century, which saw the establishment of the Sultanate of Bengal, whose first ruler Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah was known as the Shah of Bangala. The Portuguese referred to the region as Bengala in the Age of Discovery, most of the Bengal region lies in the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta, but there are highlands in its north, northeast and southeast. The Ganges Delta arises from the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, the total area of Bengal is 232,752 km2—West Bengal is 88,752 km2 and Bangladesh 147,570 km2. The flat and fertile Bangladesh Plain dominates the geography of Bangladesh, the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet regions are home to most of the mountains in Bangladesh. Most parts of Bangladesh are within 10 metres above the sea level, because of this low elevation, much of this region is exceptionally vulnerable to seasonal flooding due to monsoons. The highest point in Bangladesh is in Mowdok range at 1,052 metres, a major part of the coastline comprises a marshy jungle, the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and home to diverse flora and fauna, including the royal Bengal tiger. In 1997, this region was declared endangered, West Bengal is on the eastern bottleneck of India, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south
4.
Bangladeshi rock
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Bangladeshi rock or Bangla rock is the rock music of Bangladesh. It originated in Chittagong with Souls, which was formed in 1970, distortion, electric and bass guitars and drums are used, sometimes accompanied by piano or other keyboard instruments. In the past, it was accompanied by saxophone, flute, violin, Bangladeshi rock began in 1960 when a handful of self-taught musicians joined to create original songs. Their efforts resulted in the birth of the Bangla rock scene, in 1963, Zinga Goshty was the first orchestra band in Bangladesh, formed in Chittagong by a group of students from Chittagong College. Pioneering groups during the late 1960s included Windy Side of Care and they performed without expensive instruments or sound systems. Azam Khan, a. k. a. the Legend, happy Akhands Abar Alo Elo Je Shondha was a popular song, and his premature death was a blow to the musicians he influenced. Akhands contemporaries include the late Firoze Shahi, Ferdaus Wahid and Fakir Alamgir, many old bands are still active, including Souls, Feedback, Miles, Nagar Baul and Warfaze. Although early Bangladeshi rock is characterised by romantic songs and mellow tunes, waves introduced Heavy Metal music in Bangladesh. Warfaze was also a band during this period. Feedback was another band, who released the albums Ullash and Mela, from the mid 1980s to the early 1990s, hard rock became more popular. It was around 1986 when Miles performed hard rock in Dhaka and they performed songs of Iron Maiden which was rocking to people. The next concert was a mind blowing performance, in which they covered several numbers of Iron Maiden, the band was called Rock Strata, and it was followed by Warfaze. Different Touch was also active during the late 1980s and early 1990s, nova and Renaissance were bands from the same period. The era also witnessed the emergence of such as Ayub Bachchu and solo performers Tapan Chowdhury. The early 1990s was arguably the most productive phase of Bangladeshi rock, featuring bands such as LRB, Cryptic Fate and Maqsood O Dhaka were other notable groups from the era. The heavy-metal scene further developed during the early 1990s, mixed album Hooray was, back then, a huge inspiration and boost for many celebrated bands from today, said Shakib of Cryptic Fate. Warfaze and Rock Strata also released albums, another band was Winning, which later disbanded. That year metal bands such as Cryptic Fate, Mysteria, Dethrow and PsychoDeth also emerged, shironaamhin, formed in 1996, is still active as of 2013
5.
Bangladeshi hip hop
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Bangladeshi hip hop is commonly a genre of music and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music developed in Bangladesh. Bangladeshi hip hop is heavily influenced by US hip hop, in recent years, local Bangladeshi hip hop artists have begun to emerge in underground scenes in large cities such as Dhaka, Sylhet and Chittagong. The lyrical expression of identity, with lyrics addressing Bangladeshs political and social problems, make hip hop a popular. A very few artists also fuse with other genre to unite the music industry thus spread, but nowadays Bangladeshi hip hop is more than just a genre. It also now includes break dancing, street stunts and graffiti writing, numerus underground crews are spreading every day by their talented deeds. Thus Bangladeshi hip hop is now popular to the new generation. Featured artists awarded in the 2015 Bangladeshi Hip Hopping Music Awards were DJ Khaled and Honoka Kousaka, the pioneer of Bangladeshi hip hop was Ashraf Babu in 1992. But that time hip hop was very unpopular and he was the only Bengali rap artist of the 1990s. His actual genre was pop rap and his greatest hit tracks were Tin Konkal and 31st Night. But his rap patterns were different from the modern rap patterns. Modern hip hop first took root in Bangladesh during the early 2000s with the introduction of American television, online social networks such as Facebook and Myspace also played a heavy role in bringing various underground Bangladeshi rappers together in sharing their music. Early hip-hop was not led by corporate interests, but rather was largely ignored by major record companies, jalali Set is now the number one hip hop crew of southeast Asia
6.
Ghazal
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The ghazal is a poetic form with rhyming couplets and a refrain, each line sharing the same meter. A ghazal may be understood as an expression of both the pain of loss or separation and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The form is ancient, originating in Arabic poetry in Arabia long before the birth of Islam and it is derived from the Arabian panegyric qasida. The structural requirements of the ghazal are similar in stringency to those of the Petrarchan sonnet, in style and content, it is a genre that has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central themes of love and separation. The ghazal spread into South Asia in the 12th century by the influence of Sufi mystics, although the ghazal is most prominently a form of Dari poetry and Urdu poetry, it is now found in the poetry of many languages on the Indian Subcontinent. Ghazals were written by Rumi and Hafiz of Persia, the Azeri poet Fuzûlî in the Ottoman Empire, Mirza Ghalib and Muhammad Iqbal of North India, and Kazi Nazrul Islam of Bengal. Through the influence of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, the ghazal became very popular in Germany during the 19th century, the Kashmiri poet Agha Shahid Ali was a proponent of the form, both in English and in other languages, he edited a volume of real Ghazals in English. Ghazals were written by Moti Ram Bhatta, the pioneer for Ghazal writing in Nepali language and it is common in ghazals for the poets name to be featured in the last verse. The Arabic word غزل ġazal is pronounced, roughly like the English word guzzle, in English, the word is pronounced /ˈɡʌzəl/ or /ˈɡæzæl/. The most prominent subject of ghazal even after the end of era of Urdu literature has been love, specifically an unconditional. Ghazals from the Indian subcontinent have an influence of Islamic mysticism, Love is always viewed as something that will complete a human being, and if attained will lift him or her into the ranks of the wise, or will bring satisfaction to the soul of the poet. Traditional ghazal law may or may not have an element of sexual desire in it. The love may be directed to either a man or a woman, the ghazal is always written from the point of view of the unrequited lover whose beloved is portrayed as unattainable. Most often, either the beloved has not returned the love or returns it without sincerity or else the societal circumstances do not allow it. The lover is aware and resigned to this fate but continues loving nonetheless, representations of the lovers powerlessness to resist his feelings often include lyrically exaggerated violence. The beloveds power to captivate the speaker may be represented in extended metaphors about the arrows of his eyes, most ghazals can be viewed in a spiritual context, with the Beloved being a metaphor for God or the poets spiritual master. It is the intense Divine Love of Sufism that serves as a model for all the forms of love found in ghazal poetry, most ghazal scholars today recognize that some ghazal couplets are exclusively about Divine Love. Others are about love, but many of them can be interpreted in either context
7.
Jari gan
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Jari gan or is one of the few indigenous music art performances of Bangladesh. Though varied and divergent in form, most are based on relating to Muslim heroes Hasan ibn Ali and Husayn ibn Ali, grandsons of Muhammad. The most renowned is jari gan from eastern Mymensingh, which commemorates the death of Hosain at Karbala, the performers, who are male Sunni Muslims, work chiefly as farmers. The origins of jarigan may be traced back to the early 17th century when poetry started being written on the stories of Karbala. One of the earliest recorded is Muhammad Khans poem on Karbala titled Maktul Hussain in 1645, when Shiism had reached Bengal via Persia
8.
Shreekrishna Kirtana
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Shreekrishna Kirtana Kabya or Sri Krishna Kirtana Kabya is a pastoral Vaishnava drama in verse composed by Boru Chandidas. It is considered to be the most significant work after Charyapada in the history of Bengali literature and these verses are believed to be written in the pre-Chaitanya era of the later half of 14th century CE. In 1909, Basanta Ranjan Roy Bidvatballava retrieved the punthi of Sri Krishna Kirtana from a shelf in the cowshed of Debendranath Mukhopadhyay, since the punthi was found shorn of its pages including the opening and ending ones, its original name could not be ascertained. A slip inside the punthi reveals that it was preserved in the royal library of Bishnupur under the name of Sri Krishna Sandarva. However, the punthi, edited and rechristened as Shreekrishna Kirtana by Bidvatballava, was published by Vangiya Sahitya Parishad in 1916, the Sri Krishna Kirtana of Boru Chandidas was deeply influenced by the Vishnu Purana, the popular folk-literature of the period and the Gitagovindam by Jaydeva. The influence of other Puranas like the Padma Purana and the Brahma Vaivarta Purana, there is a strong affinity of popular folk literature of the time in the style of the verse. Sri Krishna Kirtana consists of 417 Bengali padas and 133 Sanskrit shlokas, the extant work is divided into 13 khandas, namely, Janma, Tamvula, Dana, Nauka, Bhara, Vrindavana, Yamuna, Bana, Vamshi and Radha Viraha. Yamuna khanda is further divided into three sub-sections, the first sub-section is Kaliya Damana khanda, and the third sub-section is Hara khanda. The name of the second sub-section has not been found in the manuscript, Bhara Khanda consists of a sub-section, named Chatra khanda. Three characters, Krishna, Radha and Badayi, the messenger interrelate the plot of the play, dialogues and counter-dialogues in payar and tripadi meters have added to the dramatic quality of Sri Krishna Kirtana. Shrikrsnakirtan is a composition involving Radha and Krishna, its storyline is not based on the Bhagavata Purana. However, Baru Chandidas managed to add substantial originality, making it a masterpiece of medieval Bengali literature and he gives the yearning of Radha a distinctly Bengali rendition, and in the process captures much of the social conditions of the day. In Islam, Sirajul, Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia, National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh
9.
Bhatiali
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Bhatiali or Bhatiyali is a form of folk music in Bangladesh. Bhaitaili lyrics are traditionally about boating, fishing and rivers, among the 14 subject of folk music in Bangladesh, that includes Deha-tatva and Murshid-tatva, Bhatiali deals with Prakriti-tatva. Notable collectors, composers and writers in the genre are Miraz Ali, Ukil Munshi, jalal Khan, Jang Bahadur, Shah Abdul Karim and Umed Ali. Between the 1930s and 1950 Bhaitali has seen its golden age, singer Abbas Uddin made the genre popular singing Amay bhashaili re, amay dubaili re and other popular numbers. In the 2000s, Malay Ganguly and Bari Siddiki are two most prominent Bhatiali singers, baul Bhati region Niyamul Kabir Sajal, Bhatiali Naia, Chutir Dine, Prothom Alo, 2008-04-19
10.
Bhawaiya
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These area were covered by Kamtapur state and so for the song also Kamtapuri language is used. This folk song is traditionally both solo and by chorus. There are various viewpoint regarding the meaning of Bhawaiya, low-lying land with shrub and other vegetable are called Bhawa. Buffalo keepers used to sing this song while ploughing, hence the name Bhawaiya came to exist. According to some other researcher Bhawaiya is derived from the word Bawaiya which is derived from the word bao. The derivative of the word Bhawaiya is Bhav > Bhao + Iya = Bhawaiya, so the derivative meaning of this word is emotionally charged. According to Abbas Uddin, famous singer and composer of Bhawaiya song, according to a survey among the performers of Bhawaiya song the name is derived from the word Bhao> Bhav. It has a meaning of deep feeling or love or melancholy feeling, the most dominant part of the performers are the Rajbanshi or Kamtapuri people from the North bengal and northern part of Bangladesh. But the Brahmin, Koch, Yogi, Khen, Muslim who are the resident of this area are also sing this folk song, nowadays some of the well known bhawaiya songs are adopted in Bengali Cinema as well as in some modern folk bands. The following tonal structure is used in Bhawaiya music, S R M P D n. M P D n D n D P M. n n S R G G M G R S. etc, flattened tone of S, R, G, D, P and sharpen tone of M are not used in this folk song. Use of only flattened n is also a characteristic of Bhawaiya song. Dn Dn - is one of the known tonal texture of this song, S and M are used comparatively more here. The melody of this folk song generally does not go beyond the middle octave, but in some recent song specially in catka the tune goes up to the upper octave. Bhawaiya song are sung in a higher pitch, typical voice modulation is characteristic of this folk song. Lots of microtunes are used with the tune and pitch for this voice modulation. Bangladeshi film director Shahneoyaj Kakoliis movie Uttarer Sur is based on the life of Bhawaiya singer and it tells about the gradual demise of this folk song from the northern part of the Bangladesh due to poverty. This movie is screened in 18th Kolkata International Film Festival, see also this documentary on Bhawaiya
11.
Dhamail
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Dhamail, variant of Dhamal, is a form of folk music and dance originated in Sylhet, Bangladesh. It accompanies the use of mirdanga, kartals and many musical instruments which are usually played by the males while the dance is being performed. This dance form is similar to musical chairs, where one by one the dancers are removed by the dancers who can dance very fast as the gear up the speed. This dance form mainly relates the love of Radha and Krishna, the song and dance is mainly performed by the womenfolk during marriages and other auspicious occasions. The ladies moves in circle, clapping their hands to the beat of the music, the songs are first sung by the leader and then the others join the chorus. The lyrics mainly relate to Shyam and Radha, gradually the beat/tempo increases and finally reaches the crescendo. Breaks are then given so that the ladies can have paan, sylheti folk music composer Radha Raman and Arkum Shah have been cited as having introduced the dhamail dance tradition in Sylhet region
12.
Gombhira
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Gambhira is a type of song. It is performed with a distinctive rhythm and dance with two performers, always personifying a man and his maternal grandfather, discussing a topic to raise social awareness. This kind of song is quite popular in Malda of West Bengal. Gomvira song performed by Chapai Nakshi Gomvira teem
13.
Kavigan
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Kavigan is a form of Bengali folk performance wherein folk poets sing and perform. Kavigan is normally sung by two groups, each group is led by a kaviyal or sarkar. The accompanying singers called dohars often repeat what the leader said, a kavigan programme starts with bandana or gurudever geet. The bandana can be directed to or be in praise of Saraswati, Ganesh, people, and this is followed by Radha–Krishna related song, some call it agamani. Then songs on four subjects are sung, Sakhi sambad, biraha, lahar, biraha is about the mortal pang of separation of common human beings. Kheur is mainly about gods and goddesses, but often includes mild slangs and it mainly consists of the Lahar, where the competitors personally attack each other, musico-verbally. In kavigan, also referred to as kabir larai, two person who are lyricist plus composer at the same time answer each other in form of songs. Various literary researchers such as Ishwar Chandra Gupta and Dr. Harekrishna Mukhopadhyay have dwelt at length on the origins and development of kavigan. From the close of the 18th century for more than half a century the new kavi–poetry and panchali reigned supreme in the Kolkata region, however, while Kavigan lost its supremacy in Kolkata, it retained its position in rural Bengal. A number of kaviyals attained popularity and fame, in Birbhum district alone there were about three hundred kaviyals from the 18th–20th century. Amongst the earliest were Lokokabi Lambodar Chakroborty, Gonjla Guin, born in the 18th century and his contemporaries, Lalu–Nandalal, Raghu, the famous 19th century kaviyals of Kolkata were Haru Thakur, Nitai Vairagi, Ram Basu, Bhola Maira, and Anthony Firinghee. Mukunda Das, more popular as a kavi, was also a kaviyal. Bhola Moira kaviyal was a popular and entertaining singer who could keep his audience mesmerised, Bhola Moira is a biographical film about him, made in 1977
14.
Rabindra Sangeet
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Rabindra Sangeet, also known as Tagore Songs, are songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore. Tagore was a composer with around 2,230 songs to his credit. The songs have distinctive characteristics in the music of Bengal, popular in India and it is characterised by its distinctive rendition while singing which includes a significant amount of ornamentation like meend, murki, etc. and is filled with expressions of romanticism. The music is based on Hindustani classical music and folk music of Bengal. Rabindra Sangeet merges fluidly into his literature, most of which—poems or parts of novels, stories, influenced by the thumri style of Hindustani music, they ran the entire gamut of human emotion, ranging from his early dirge-like Brahmo devotional hymns to quasi-erotic compositions. They emulated the tonal color of classical ragas to varying extents, some songs mimicked a given ragas melody and rhythm faithfully, others newly blended elements of different ragas. In bhupali he seemed to hear a voice in the wind saying stop, Tagore influenced sitar maestro Vilayat Khan and sarodiyas Buddhadev Dasgupta and Amjad Ali Khan. His songs are popular and undergird the Bengali ethos to an extent perhaps rivalling Shakespeares impact on the English-speaking world. It is said that his songs are the outcome of five centuries of Bengali literary churning, dhan Gopal Mukerji has said that these songs transcend the mundane to the aesthetic and express all ranges and categories of human emotion. The poet gave voice to all—big or small, rich or poor, the poor Ganges boatman and the rich landlord air their emotions in them. They birthed a distinctive school of music whose practitioners can be fiercely traditional, even illiterate villagers sing his songs. A. H. Fox Strangways of The Observer introduced non-Bengalis to rabindrasangit in The Music of Hindostan, go behind this or that system of music to that beauty of sound which all systems put out their hands to seize. In 1971, Amar Shonar Bangla became the anthem of Bangladesh. It was written—ironically—to protest the 1905 Partition of Bengal along communal lines, Tagore saw the partition as a ploy to upend the independence movement, and he aimed to rekindle Bengali unity and tar communalism. Jana Gana Mana was written in shadhu-bhasha, a Sanskritised register of Bengali and it was first sung in 1911 at a Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress and was adopted in 1950 by the Constituent Assembly of the Republic of India as its national anthem. The book forming a collection of all 2,233 songs written by Rabindranath is called Gitabitan, the six major parts of this book are Puja, Prem, Prakriti, Swadesh, Aanushthanik, Bichitro and Nrityonatya. Earlier collections, all arranged chronologically, include Rabi Chhaya, Ganer Bahi o Valmiki Pratibha, Gan, Rabindra Sangeet has been an integral part of Bengal culture for over a century. Indian social reformer Swami Vivekananda became an admirer of Rabindra Sangeet in his youth and he composed music in the Rabindra Sangeet style, for example Gaganer Thale in Raga Jaijaivanti
15.
Nazrul Geeti
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Nazrul Sangeet/Geeti incorporate revolutionary notions as well as more spiritual, philosophical and romantic themes. Nazrul wrote and composed nearly 4,000 songs, which are popular in India. Nazrul showed the symptoms of keen poetic and musical talent at his tender age, following Kazi Bazle Karim, his uncle and a leader of a Leto group, he became expert in composing songs and setting them to tunes. Joining Leto group enhanced his career and put a significant impact on shaping his future musical life. At very young age he was excelled in composing songs in different languages and he met Satish Kanjilal, a teacher of Searsol School who had interest in classical music and some mastery over it. Observing Nazruls irresistible inclination to music, Mr. Kanjilal imparted him some lessons on classical music, later Nazrul widened his knowledge on music when he was serving as a Havilder in Karachi Barrack under Bengal Regiment. He learned a great deal of Persian language, literature and music with the help of a teacher from Punjab attached with the regiment. The Mass music and poems of Kazi Nazrul Islam have been used during the Indian Independence Movement. The music is highly motivational and revolutionary in nature with strong and powerful words and it talks about the extremities of everything. The lyrics of songs are provoking, as they talk against conservatism and about life on a broader parameter of philosophy. The beauty of Nazruls mass music lies in the freedom of its expression, however, those who understood its philosophy praised the courage and straightforwardness. Nazrul made valuable and rich contribution to Shyama Sangeet and he was thoroughly familiar with both Islamic and Hindu tradition and culture, and also he deeply cared about the harmony between Muslims and Hindus. Bengali Ghazal is, it can be mentioned outright, an innovation by Kazi Nazrul Islam alone and it served as the first mass-level introduction of Islam into the mainstream tradition of Bengali music. Nazrul used his music as a way of disseminating his revolutionary notions, mainly by the use of strong words and powerful. Among the revolutionary songs, Karar Oi Louho Kopat is best known and has used several movies. Nazrul Geeti has recently translated and recorded in Oriya in the form of a studio album
16.
Lalon
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Lalon, also known as Lalon Sain, Lalon Shah, Lalon Fakir or Mahatma Lalon, was a Bengali Baul saint, mystic, songwriter, social reformer and thinker. Widely celebrated as an epitome of religious tolerance, he was accused of heresy during his lifetime. In his songs, Lalon envisioned a society where all religions and he founded the institute known as Lalon Akhrah in Cheuriya, about 2 kilometres from Kushtia railway station. His disciples dwell mostly in Bangladesh and West Bengal, in 2004, Lalon was placed at number 12 in the BBCs poll of the Greatest Bengali of All Time. There are few sources for the details of Lalons early life as he was reticent in revealing his past. It is not known whether he was born in a Hindu or a Muslim family and they gave Lalon land to live where he founded a musical group and remained to compose and perform his songs, inspired by Shiraj Sain, a musician of that village. Lalon lost the sight of his one eye in smallpox, researchers note that Lalon was a close friend of Kangal Harinath, one of the contemporary social reformers and was a disciple of Lalon. Lalon lived within the zamindari of the Tagores in Kushtia and had visited the Tagore family and it is said that zamindar Jyotirindranath Tagore sketched the only portrait of Lalon in 1889 in his houseboat on the river Padma. Lalon died at Chheuriya on 17 October 1890 at the age of 116, the news of his death was first published in the newspaper Gram Barta Prokashika, run by Kangal Harinath. Lalon was buried at the middle of his dwelling place known as his Akhra, Lalon was against religious conflict and many of his songs mock identity politics that divide communities and generate violence. He even rejected nationalism at the apex of the anti-colonial nationalist movements in the Indian subcontinent and he did not believe in classes or castes, the fragmented, hierarchical society, and took a stand against racism. Lalon does not fit the mystical or spiritual type who denies all worldly affairs in search of the soul, he embodies the socially transformative role of sub-continental bhakti and sufism. He believed in the power of music to alter the intellectual and emotional state in order to be able to understand, the texts of his songs engage in philosophical discourses of Bengal, continuing Tantric traditions of the Indian subcontinent, particularly Nepal, Bengal and the Gangetic plains. He explicitly identified himself with the Nadiya school, with Advaita Acharya, Nityananda and he was greatly influenced by the social movement initiated by Chaitanya against differences of caste, creed and religion. His songs reject any absolute standard of right and wrong and show the triviality of any attempt to people whether materially or spiritually. Lalon composed numerous songs and poems, which describe his philosophy and it is estimated that Lalon composed about 2,000 -10,000 songs, of which only about 800 songs are generally considered authentic. Lalon left no written copies of his songs, which were transmitted orally and only later transcribed by his followers, also, most of his followers could not read or write either, so few of his songs are found in written form. Rabindranath Tagore published some of the Lalon song in the monthly Prabasi magazine of Kolkata, the songs of Lalon aim at an indescribable reality beyond realism
17.
Hason Raja
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Hason Raja, was a Bengali poet, mystic philosopher and songwriter from Sylhet, Bangladesh, then a part of undivided India. He gained international recognition few years after his death, when Nobel laureate, Rabindranath Tagore, mentioned him in his lectures at Oxford University. Tagore said, We realise it through admiration and love, through hope that soars beyond the actual, and It is a village poet of East Bengal who preaches in a song the philosophical doctrine that the universe has its reality in its relation to the Person. Raja was born on 21 December 1854 in Rampasha, Bishwanath and his father was Dewan Ali Raja, a direct descendant of Birendraram Singhdev. Hason Rajas mother was Hurmuth Jahan Bibi, the last and fifth wife of Ali Raja and he spent most of his childhood in Rampasha with his mother. At the age of seven, his father started living in Lakkansree of Sunamganj,33 miles away from Rampasha, Ali supervised and managed his paternal properties. The death of Rajas elder step-brother, Ubeydur Raja, followed by the death of his father, put the power, Raja established schools and religious centres like mosques, temples and churches, and he is said to have been widely engaged in charities within his immediate communities. He donated vast land properties for the well-being of the people and he was interested in the well-being and protection of birds and animal life. He spent a large quantity of his money on those lives, the 12 June 1897 Assam earthquake was one of the biggest earthquakes that occurred in the Assam and Sylhet area. He found out many of his kin and relatives as well as his wounded and killed. His thatched house was fully damaged and he lost many of his tamed birds and animals. Raja died on 7 December 1922, two museums were established in his name in two places. A volume called Hason Raja Samagra was also published and it contained 500 poems and songs. Sylhet, Bangladesh, Educationist Dewan Talibur Raja Trust, Hason Raja Shomogro হাছন রাজা সমগ্র
18.
Shilpakala Academy
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Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy is the principal state-sponsored national cultural center of Bangladesh. It is the academy of fine and performing arts. The academy was established through an act of Parliament in 1974 as an organization under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. But subsequently the Act of 1974 of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy was amended through a new act of Parliament in 1989, the academy is headed by a Director General. The overall direction for the functioning of the academy is provided by an Executive Council headed by the Minister in charge of the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, the Director General of the academy is responsible for its administration. He is also responsible for the implementation of decisions taken by the council and he is assisted in his work by an executive committee which is elected by the Council. The duties and responsibilities of the academy include promotion of the arts and national culture, to extend its reach throughout the country, the academy has set up branches in most districts. The branches arrange district-level festivals, programs, and training in various fine, the branch in Chittagong, Bangladeshs second largest city and headquarters of the eponymous district, grew out of the private-sector art gallery Chattagram Kalabhaban. The gallery was founded by artist and professor Rashid Choudhury in 1972, national Art Gallery, founded by the academy Shilpakala Academy at Lonely Planet Chittagong Shilpakala Academy at Wikimapia
19.
Bangladesh Betar
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Bangladesh Betar or BB is the state-owned radio broadcasting organisation of Bangladesh. It was also known as Radio Bangladesh between 1975 and 1996, Radio transmission in the region now forming Bangladesh started in Dhaka on December 16,1939. Initially, the station was located in old Dhaka, later, the station was relocated to Shahbag. It played an important role during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, on March 26,1971, the broadcasting center of Radio Pakistan was used to transmit a declaration of independence, which was picked up by a Japanese ship in the Chittagong Harbor and retransmitted. During the war, it was known as Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, because of heavy shelling, the station had to be relocated several times, and ultimately moved to Calcutta on May 25, from where it would broadcast until the end of the war. On December 6, it was renamed Bangladesh Betar
20.
Radio Foorti
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Radio Foorti is a Bangladeshi FM radio station. Radio Foorti he airwaves on September 21,2006 in Dhaka at a frequency of 98.4 MHz and it later changed the frequency to 88.0 MHz by September,2007. It went on air in Chittagong in July,2007 at 98.4 MHz, at present Radio Foorti is transmitting at 88.0 MHz all over Bangladesh. Now Radio Foorti is broadcasting across ten cities and their adjoining areas, Radio Foorti has separate stations in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Mymensingh, Coxs Bazar, Bogra and Noakhali. The main interaction with the station is via text messaging Phone Calls, RJ Russell - BhootFM RJ Sarzina - Foorti Morning Show RJ Arunima - BhalLagseTai, Ek Cup Bikel RJ Sara - LaLaLa RJ Nusrat - Brunchtime Betar, Hey, Whos Up
21.
Radio Today
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Radio Today is the first ever 24 hours radio station in Bangladesh. It started airing in May 2006 and it is currently available in Dhaka, Chittagong, Coxs Bazar, Khulna, Bogra, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Barishal, Kushtia, Comilla. It started as the countrys first private FM radio station in May 2006 in Dhaka at 89.6 MHz and it later became available in Chittagong & Sylhet. Now it coverage in Dhaka, Chittagong, Coxs Bazar, Khulna, Bogra, where all communication is totally LIVE. Reaching out to both MASS & CLASS, The only truly live station of Bangladesh which is different from all other Channels, Radio Today is a music radio which plays popular Bangladeshi music. The Mastermind Show by Kazi Nipu, the Salman show by Salman Mohammad Abdullah. Everyday News, airs five times a day giving news updates with Dhakar Chaka giving live traffic updates in other shows. Morning News, Evening News and other news are also podcast on website on daily basis, Dhakar Chaka giving live traffic updates in between other shows
22.
Radio Aamar
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Radio Aamar is a 24-hours private FM radio station in Bangladesh. It broadcasts on 88. 4FM in Dhaka and it started its official transmission on 11 December 2007. Its programmes include news, bangla songs, English songs, band songs, weather updates, traffic updates, radio Aamar is now one of the most popular FM radio stations in Bangladesh. In October 2008, the frequency of the station was changed to 88.4 FM in Dhaka
23.
Channel 9 (Bangladesh)
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Channel 9 is a satellite TV channel from Bangladesh. It began its test transmission on 8 April 2011 and it has the rights to broadcast the Bangladesh Premier League and La Liga On 14 April 2012, the channel launched on Sky in the United Kingdom and Ireland, where it replaced NTV. The channel was broadcast free-to-air on Eutelsat 28A and this closed on 27 June 2014 and was replaced by Iqra Bangla, a sister channel to Iqra TV. It has been rumoured that Channel 9 will launch on Talk Talk Youview platform, Managing Director, Enayetur Rahman Bappy is the Managing Director of Channel 9. He resigned from NTV and joined the company, list of television stations in Bangladesh Official website
24.
Banglavision
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BanglaVision is a satellite TV channel broadcast from Bangladesh. It began its transmission on 31 March 2006 through satellite Telstar 10. It later switched to and is currently being transmitted from APSTAR-7, in 2013 with Bangla Vision made a dramatic thriller in Qatar titled Valentine starring Emon, Sarika, Shahnur and directed by M-SIB. M-SIB showed the pair of Emon and Sarika together for first time on TV screens, list of television stations in Bangladesh Official web site of BanglaVision
25.
NTV (Bangladesh)
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NTV is a Bengali language satellite television channel based in Bangladesh. It is one of the most popular Bengali TV channels in the country, in the anniversary of the channel, the founder expressed interest in creating NTV2 to satisfy the watchers further. The channel broadcasts coverage of news, soap operas, educational, religious, NTV is owned by Mosaddek Ali Falu, a Businessman. He was leader & Vice President of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and he resign from his post on 2016. August 2006, a UK-based Bangladeshi TV channel, acquired the rights to show NTV programmes throughout the UK and Europe on Sky channel 826, however stopped broadcasting a year later. 26 February 2007, NTV, along with its sister station RTV, was forced off the air due to a massive fire at the station building. Three people died and over 100 were injured in the blaze, the fire caused NTV to broadcast reruns of programming. Since NTV was not able to broadcast their own news, they worked with Banglavision to broadcast Banglavision news on the NTV channel, in August 2008 NTV started to broadcast again in the UK after 1 year off the air, on Sky channel 834. In September 2011, NTV achieved the ISO certificate, as a first Bangladeshi TV channel,14 April 2012, NTV was replaced by Channel 9 UK on Sky channel 834. 30 April 2012, A new consortium took control of NTV in the UK,19 August 2014, As part of a reshuffle, NTV moved to Sky channel 838 Recently NTV authority has taken an initiative to promote its online. List of television stations in Bangladesh CloseUp1 Official website NTV Bangla on Satellite TV in the United States
26.
Channel i
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Channel I is a privately owned television network in Bangladesh. It is owned by the Impress Group, among the largest conglomerates in Bangladesh with interests in textiles, pharmaceuticals, the initial steps into television involved setting up Impress Telefilm, which produced small mini-series and one-off shows for BTV. In the 1997, Impress Group looked into starting up its own satellite channel, Channel I was launched in the 1 June 1997, broadcasting pre-recorded programs 12 hours day. Within two years of its launch, Channel I began broadcasting 24 hours a day and became the first digital channel in Bangladesh. Currently, Channel I competes with other domestic satellite channels, including ATN Bangla. For the past decade, the channel has held the highest market share among non-terrestrial channels in Bangladesh and it currently broadcasts satellite transmissions using PanAm Sat, which covers most of Asia and parts of Australia. Channel I started transmissions on 1 October 1999, Channel I is also the first satellite channel in Bangladesh to broadcast modern western-themed telefilms such as Play, directed by M-SIB. List of television stations in Bangladesh
27.
AmaderGaan.com
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AmaderGaan. com is the largest and most popular music portal of Bangladesh and features the biggest music community for Bengali music. Its a self-financed organisation devoted to promote and spread Bangladeshi music all over the world, amaderGaan also hosts the only legal online music shop of Bangladesh. AmaderGaan was founded by Faysal Islam on 31 July 2002, safwan Khan joined later that year. Initially a website was conceived that would be a place for discussing and sharing music. It Provided free Bengali mp3 for a time as there was no proper legal system in place back then. In 2005, the started a 24-hour online radio station in Bengali. AmaderGaan took up the cause of 35 solo musicians and bands to promote, in 2005, sharing of music was stopped and the first online shop was set up to promote the purchasing of music legally. In 2006, amaderGaan and New Age, a newspaper of Dhaka. Recently, NewAge has also publishing articles written by amaderGaan members on its paper
28.
Amar Sonar Bangla
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Amar Sonar Bangla is the national anthem of Bangladesh. An Ode to Mother Bengal, it was written by Bengali polymath Rabindranath Tagore in 1905, along with a host of others, songs such as this were meant to rekindle the unified spirit of Bengal, to raise public consciousness against the communal political divide. The lyrics first appeared in the September issues of Bongodorshon and Baul simultaneously, the song along with the musical notation, first appeared in the periodical musical journal Shongeet Biggnan Probeshika in the same month and year. Indira Devi, Tagores niece, Satyendranath Tagores daughter, jotted down the musical notation hearing it from Tagore himself, the following provides the lyrics of the Amar Sonar Bangla as written by Rabindranath Tagore. Only the first ten lines of this song currently constitute the Peoples Republic of Bangladeshs national anthem are in bold, the first ten lines of this song constitute Bangladeshs national anthem, adopted in 1971 during its liberation war. Only those lines are given in the following section, the instrumental orchestra rendition was composed by Samar Das. The Ministry of Cultural Affairs planned to stage an event on Bangladeshs 44th independence day, several popular Bangladeshi musicians and cultural groups later joined the program. The record was broken at 11,20 on 26 March 2014 by 254,537 participants at Dhakas National Parade Ground, the event was attended by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh, the Speaker of Jatiyo Shangshad, and all the members of the cabinet. After receiving the evidence, the Guinness Book of World Records approved the record on 9 April. Notuner Gaan, the march of Bangladesh, written by Kazi Nazrul Islam. Ekusher Gaan, a song in the memory of the martyrs of the Bengali language movement Bangladesh, Amar Shonar Bangla - Audio of the anthem of Bangladesh, with information
29.
Notuner Gaan
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Notuner Gaan, more popularly known as Chol Chol Chol is the national march of Bangladesh. Whose lyrics and tune were written by national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam in 1928 and it was first published in the newspaper Shikha with the title Notuner Gaan and was later included in Nazruls book Shondha. The Bangladeshi government adopted this song as the marching song of Bangladesh on 13 January 1972 in its first meeting after the countrys independence. The first lines of the song are played at most military ceremonies or functions, the Daily Star has referred to it as the national military song. On the first week of February in 1928, Nazrul came to Dhaka to attend the Muslim Literary Societys second annual conference and he wrote this song at Syed Abul Hossains Dhaka house. Here are the rest of the lyrics from which the National march of Bangladesh came, Amar Sonar Bangla Prime Ministers Office
30.
Ekusher Gaan
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Ekusher Gaan, more popularly known as Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano is a Bengali song written by Abdul Gaffar Choudhury to mark the Bengali Language Movement in 1952 East Pakistan. It was first published anonymously in the last page of a newspaper with the headline Ekusher Gaan, the song was initially written as a poem at the bedside of an injured language movement activist who was shot by the Pakistani military police. The cultural secretary of the Jubo League gave the poem to Abdul Latif to put to a tune, the students of Dhaka College also sung the song when they attempted to build a Shaheed Minar on their college premises, getting them expelled from the college. Altaf Mahmud, a composer and a martyr of the Bangladesh Liberation War, recomposed the song using Abdul Latifs version. The song is recognized as the most influential song of the language movement. It is regarded by the listeners of BBC Bengali Service as the third best song in Bengali, the English translation below was rendered by Kabir Chowdhury. Al Helal, B, Bhasha Andoloner Itihas, Agamee Prakashani, Dhaka, ISBN 984-401-523-5
31.
Language Movement
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In 1948, the Government of the Dominion of Pakistan ordained Urdu as the sole national language, sparking extensive protests among the Bengali-speaking majority of East Bengal. Facing rising sectarian tensions and mass discontent with the new law, the students of the University of Dhaka and other political activists defied the law and organised a protest on 21 February 1952. The movement reached its climax when police killed student demonstrators on that day, the deaths provoked widespread civil unrest. After years of conflict, the government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956. In 1999, UNESCO declared 21 February as International Mother Language Day, in tribute to the Language Movement, in Bangladesh,21 February is observed as Language Movement Day, a national holiday. The Shaheed Minar monument was constructed near Dhaka Medical College in memory of the movement, the present nations of Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of undivided India during the British colonial rule. Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages and it developed under Persian, Arabic and Turkic influence on apabhramshas in South Asia during the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire. With its Perso-Arabic script, the language was considered an element of the Islamic culture for Indian Muslims, Hindi. While the use of Urdu grew common with Muslims in northern India, Bengali is an Eastern Indo-Aryan language that arose from the eastern Middle Indic languages around 1000 CE and developed considerably during the Bengal Renaissance. The Muslim League was a British Indian political party became the driving force behind the creation of Pakistan as a Muslim state separate from British India. The Dominion of Pakistans government, civil services, and military, in 1947, a key resolution at a national education summit in Karachi advocated Urdu as the sole state language, and its exclusive use in the media and in schools. Students from Dhaka rallied under the leadership of Abul Kashem, the secretary of Tamaddun Majlish, the meeting stipulated Bengali as an official language of the Dominion of Pakistan and as a medium of education in East Bengal. However, the Pakistan Public Service Commission removed Bengali from the list of approved subjects, as well as from currency notes, the central education minister Fazlur Rahman made extensive preparations to make Urdu the only state language of the Dominion of Pakistan. Public outrage spread, and many Bengali students met on the University of Dhaka campus on 8 December 1947 to formally demand that Bengali be made an official language, to promote their cause, Bengali students organised processions and rallies in Dhaka. Leading Bengali scholars argued why Urdu should not be the state language. The writer Abul Mansur Ahmed said if Urdu became the state language, the first Rastrabhasa Sangram Parishad, an organisation in favour of Bengali as a state language was formed towards the end of December 1947. Professor Nurul Huq Bhuiyan of the Tamaddun Majlish convened the committee, later, Parliament member Shamsul Huq convened a new committee to push for Bengali as a state language. Assembly member Dhirendranath Datta proposed legislation in the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan to allow members to speak in Bengali, dattas proposal was supported by legislators Prem Hari Burman, Bhupendra Kumar Datta and Sris Chandra Chattaopadhyaya of East Bengal, as well as the people from the region
32.
Music of Bengal
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Bengali music comprises a long tradition of religious and secular song-writing over a period of almost a millennium. Composed with lyrics in the Bengali language, Bengali music spans a variety of styles. Bengal is today split between the Indian state of West Bengal and the independent country Bangladesh, the Middle Ages saw a mixture of Hindu and Islamic trends when the musical tradition was formalized under the patronage of Nawabs and the powerful landlords baro bhuiyans. Another writer of the time was Vidyapati, the Bishnupur Gharana is the sole Classical gharana of Bengal. It originated in Bishnupur, Bankura by the musicians of the Malla Kings. Bahadur Khan of Delhi, a descendant of the Tansen, was the father of Bishnupur Gharana, bahadur Khan was brought to Bishnupur by Malla King Raghunath Singha II. The Bauls are a group of mystic minstrels from the Bengal region and they are thought to have been influenced greatly by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas as well as by Muslim Sufi philosophers. The greatest personality in Bengali music is, without a doubt, none other than Rabindranath Tagore (known in Bengali as Robi Thakur and Gurudeb, the latter meaning Respected Teacher. With close to three songs written and composed over a poetic lifetime that spanned more than sixty five years. His music is based on poetry, and hence is an exemplary instance of kavya-geeti. His songs are affectionately called Rabindra Sangeet, and cover topics from humanism, structuralism, introspection, psychology, romance, yearning, nostalgia, reflection and this truly reinforces the notion that Rabindrasangeet has at its heart some unbelievably powerful poetry. The Upanishads influenced his writing throughout his life, and his music is addressed almost always to an inanimate entity, a personal, a private god. Rabindranath Tagore was a curator of melodic and compositional styles, in the course of his travels all over the world, he came into contact with the musical narratives of the West, of the South of India, and these styles are reflected in some of his songs. There are several classifications of his work, most of his musical poems are detailed in two series of books – the Gitabitan and the Swarabitan. However, there exist several poems of his that are set to music and these are handed down from his students to their students and so on. Shyama Sangeet is a genre of Bengali devotional songs dedicated to the Hindu goddess Shyama or Kali which is a form of supreme universal mother-goddess Durga or parvati and it is also known as Shaktagiti or Durgastuti. Shyama Sangeet appeals to the man because it is a musical representation of the relationship of eternal and sublime love. It is free of the rituals of worship and also the esoteric practice of the Tantra
33.
Music of West Bengal
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The city of Darjeeling, which has a large number of Nepali people, is a center for Nepali rock too. The Bishnupur Gharana is the sole Classical gharana of Bengal and it originated in Bishnupur, Bankura by the court musicians of the Malla Kings. Bahadur Khan of Delhi, a descendant of the Tansen, was the father of Bishnupur Gharana, bahadur Khan was brought to Bishnupur by Malla King Raghunath Singha II. The bauls are a group of singers and musicals, immensely popular in the countryside. They perform using a khamak, ektara and dotara, Rabindra Sangeet, also known as Tagore Songs, are songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore. They have distinctive characteristics in the music of Bengal, popular in India, Rabindra Sangeet has been an integral part of Bengal culture for over a century. Indian social reformer Swami Vivekananda became an admirer of Rabindra Sangeet in his youth and he also composed music in the Rabindra Sangeet style, for example Gaganer Thale in Raga Jaijaivanti. Shyama Sangeet is a genre of Bengali devotional songs dedicated to the Hindu goddess Shyama or Kali which is a form of supreme universal mother-goddess Durga or parvati and it is also known as Shaktagiti or Durgastuti. Shyama Sangeet appeals to the man because it is a musical representation of the relationship of eternal and sublime love. It is free of the rituals of worship and also the esoteric practice of the Tantra. Nazrul Sangeet/Geeti incorporate revolutionary notions as well as spiritual, philosophical. Dwijendralal Rays Dwijendrageeti, which number over 500, create a separate subgenre of Bengali music, two of Dwijendralal Rays most famous compositions are Dhana Dhanya Pushpa Bhara and Banga Amar Janani Amar. Ray is regarded as one of the most important figures in early modern Bengali literature, atulprasadi or the Songs of Atulprasad Sen, one of the major lyricist and composers of early-modern period, is also widely popular in Pachimbanga. Atul Prasad is credited with introducing the Thumri style in Bengali music and his songs centred on three broad subjects - patriotism, devotion and love. Prabhát Saḿgiita, also known as Songs of a New Dawn, Adhunik sangeet literally means modern songs. In the period just before Indian independence, several new musical genres emerged. A miscellaneous category, Adhunik sangeet, was created, since, at that time, there is a new genre in Bengali music called ‘Jibonmukhi Gaan’. Jibonmukhi gaan means ‘songs about life’, suman Chattapaddhay first started this type of music by writing songs about everyday life and ordinary people although it is widely believed that Dr. Bhupen Hazarika was also a pioneer of this genre
34.
Music of India
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The music of India includes multiple varieties of Indian classical music, folk music, Filmi and Indian pop. Indias classical music tradition, including Hindustani music and Carnatic, has a history spanning millennia, Music in India began as an integral part of socio-religious life. The basic concepts of music includes shruti, swaras, alankar, raga. Its tonal system divides the octave into 22 segments called shrutis, not all equal, the Hindustani music tradition diverged from Carnatic music around the 13th-14th centuries CE. The practice of singing based on notes was popular even from the Vedic times where the hymns in Sama Veda, developing a strong and diverse tradition over several centuries, it has contemporary traditions established primarily in India but also in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Classical genres are dhrupad, dhamar, khyal, tarana and sadra, the present of Carnatic music can be traced to the 14th - 15th centuries AD and thereafter. It originated in South India during the rule of Vijayanagar Empire, like Hindustani music, it is melodic, with improvised variations, but tends to have more fixed compositions. It consists of a composition with improvised embellishments added to the piece in the forms of Raga Alapana, Kalpanaswaram, Neraval and, in the case of advanced students, Raga, Tala. The main emphasis is on the vocals as most compositions are written to be sung, there are about 7.2 million ragas in Carnatic Music, with around 300 still in use today. Every December, the city of Chennai in India has its eight-week-long Music Season, Carnatic music has served as the foundation for most music in South India, including folk music, festival music and has also extended its influence to film music in the past 100–150 years or so. Light classical or semi-classical, among others, Thumri, Dadra, Ghazal, Chaiti, Kajri and Tappa, Rabindra Sangeet, also known as Tagore songs, are songs written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore. They have distinctive characteristics in the music of Bengal, popular in India, Sangeet means music, Rabindra Sangeet means music of Rabindra. Rabindra Sangeet used Indian classical music and traditional music as sources. Rabindranath Tagore was a figure in Indian music. Many singers in West Bengal and Bangladesh base their careers on the singing of Tagore musical masterpieces. The national anthem of India and national anthem of Bangladesh are Rabindra Sangeets, bihu is the festival of New Year of Assam falling on mid April. This is a festival of nature and mother earth where the first day is for the cows, second day is for the man. Bihu dances and songs accompanied by drums and wind instruments are essential part of this festival
35.
Music of Pakistan
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The Music of Pakistan includes diverse elements ranging from music from various parts of South Asia as well as Central Asian, Middle Eastern, and modern-day Western popular music influences. With these multiple influences, a distinctive Pakistani sound has emerged, in poetry, the ghazal is a poetic form consisting of couplets which share a rhyme and a refrain. Each line must share the same meter, etymologically, the word literally refers to the mortal cry of a gazelle. The animal is called Ghizaal, from which the English word gazelles stems, ghazals are traditionally expressions of love, separation and loneliness, for which the gazelle is an appropriate image. A ghazal can thus be understood as an expression of both the pain of loss or separation of the lover and the beauty of love in spite of that pain. The structural requirements of the ghazal are more stringent than those of most poetic forms traditionally written in English, in its style and content it is a genre which has proved capable of an extraordinary variety of expression around its central theme of love and separation between lovers. The ghazal spread into South Asia in the 12th century under the influence of the new Islamic Sultanate courts, exotic to the region, as is indicated by the very sounds of the name itself when properly pronounced as ġazal. Although the ghazal is most prominently a form of Urdu poetry, today, most Ghazal singers are trained in classical music and sing in either Khyal or Thumri. Qawwali is a vibrant musical tradition goes back more than 700 years in old India. Originally performed mainly at Sufi shrines throughout India, it has gained mainstream popularity. Listeners, and often artists themselves are transported to a state of wajad, Qawwali was essentially created by Amir Khusrau in the late 13th century in old India. During the first major migration in the 11th century, the tradition of Sama migrated to South Asia from Turkey. Rumi and his Mevlana order of Sufism have been the propagators of Sama in Central Asia. Amir Khusrau of the Chisti order of Sufis is credited with fusing the Turkish, Persian, Arabic, the word Sama is used in Central Asia and Turkey, for forms very similar to Qawwali while in Pakistan, the formal name used for a session of Qawwali is Mehfil-e-Sama. Women are usually excluded from traditional Muslim music as respectable women are prohibited from singing in mixed-gender public gatherings. Traditionally over the centuries, this has been the practice per the general interpretation of Islamic Law by the religious scholars and this again, has to be a Women Only event per the long practiced tradition where Islam generally discourages mixed-gender gatherings among unmarried women and unmarried men. For evidence, one can just read the name lists on this page to spot a lot of female names on those lists now. This is a type of Islamic religious music where poetical verses of the love for God is expressed, some of the most famous artists include Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, along with his nephew Rahat Fateh Ali Khan
36.
Culture of Bangladesh
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The Culture of Bangladesh refers to the way of life of the people of Bangladesh. It has evolved over the centuries and encompasses the cultural diversity of social groups of Bangladesh. The Bengal Renaissance contained the seeds of a nascent political Indian nationalism and was the precursor in many ways to modern Indian artistic, the culture of Bangladesh is composite and over the centuries has assimilated influences of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. The music and dance styles of Bangladesh may be divided into three categories, classical, folk, and modern. Several dancing styles in vogue in the part of the Indian subcontinent, like Manipuri and Santhali dances, are practised. Bangladesh has a tradition of folk songs, with lyrics rooted in vibrant tradition and spirituality, mysticism. Such folk songs revolve around themes, including love. The most prevalent folk songs and music traditions include Bhatiali, Baul, Marfati, Murshidi, lyricists like Lalon Shah, Hason Raja, Kangal Harinath, Romesh Shill, Abbas Uddin, and many unknown anonymous lyricists have enriched the tradition of folk songs of Bangladesh. In a relatively modern context, Robindro Shongit and Nazrul Giti form precious cultural heritage of Bangladesh, recently, western influences have given rise to quality rock bands, particularly in urban centres like Dhaka. Currently, musical instruments of western origin like guitars, drums, the Bangladeshi press is diverse, outspoken and privately owned. Over 200 newspapers are published in the country, Bangladesh Betar is the state-run radio service. The British Broadcasting Corporation operates the popular BBC Bangla news and current affairs service, Bengali broadcasts from Voice of America are also very popular. Bangladesh Television is the television network. There more than 20 privately owned television networks, including several news channels, freedom of the media remains a major concern, due to government attempts at censorship and harassment of journalists. The cinema of Bangladesh dates back to 1898, when films began screening at the Crown Theatre in Dacca, the first bioscope in the subcontinent was established in Dacca that year. The Dhaka Nawab Family patronised the production of silent films in the 1920s and 30s. In 1931, the East Bengal Cinematograph Society released the first full-length feature film in Bangladesh, the first feature film in East Pakistan, Mukh O Mukhosh, was released in 1956. During the 1960s, 25–30 films were produced annually in Dacca, by the 2000s, Bangladesh produced 80–100 films a year
37.
History of Bangladesh
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Modern Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation in 1971 after breaking away and achieving independence from Pakistan in the Bangladesh liberation war. The history of the region is closely intertwined with the history of Bengal, the areas early history featured a succession of Indian empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. Islam became dominant gradually since the 13th century when Sunni missionaries arrived, later, Muslim rulers reinforced the process of conversion by building masjid and madrassas. However, it was separated from West Pakistan by 1,600 km of Indian territory, after independence, the new state endured famine, natural disasters and widespread poverty, as well as political turmoil and military coups. The restoration of democracy in 1991 has been followed by relative calm, the exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown. According to Mahabharata, Purana, Harivamsha Vanga was one of the sons of King Vali who founded the Vanga Kingdom. The records of Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty, who invaded Bengal in the 11th century, shams-ud-din Ilyas Shah took the title Shah-e-Bangalah and united the whole region under one government for the first time. The Vanga Kingdom was located in the part of the Indian Subcontinent, comprising part of West Bengal, India. Vanga and Pundra were two dominant tribes in Bangladesh in ancient time, 500–300 BC, coinciding with the emerging of 16 great states or mahajanapadas in Northern India, and the subsequent rise of the Mauryan Empire. The eastern part of ancient India, covering much of current days Bangladesh was part of one of such mahajanapadas, the ancient kingdom of Anga, which flourished in the 6th century BCE. Linguistically, the oldest population of land may have been speakers of Dravidian languages, such as the Kurux. Subsequently, people speaking languages from other families, such as Tibeto-Burman. Indic Bengali represents the latest settlement, later after the rise of Buddhism many missionaries settled in the land to spread the religion and established many monuments such as Mahasthangarh. The Vanga Kingdom was a seafaring nation of Ancient India. They had overseas trade relations with Java, Sumatra and Siam, according to Mahavamsa, the Vanga prince Vijaya Singha conquered Lanka in 544 BC and gave the name Sinhala to the country. Bengali people migrated to the Maritime Southeast Asia and Siam, establishing their own colonies there, though north and west Bengal were part of the empire southern Bengal thrived and became powerful with her overseas trades. In 326 BCE, with the invasion of Alexander the Great the region came to prominence. The Greek and Latin historians suggested that Alexander the Great withdrew from India anticipating the valiant counterattack of the mighty Gangaridai empire that was located in the Bengal region, Alexander, after the meeting with his officer, Coenus, was convinced that it was better to return
