Baul Music as Oral Tradition of Bengal

Bengal has glorious tradition of music from time immemorial. Baul songs stand at the apex of indigenous musical hierarchy of Bengal. The presence of Baul songs was marked from around 15th Century. This is well known as a specific genre of mystic music. The study is based on secondary data. This is an attempt of analyzing collected documents on this issue. Several researches have done on this subject. Here the present researcher is only concerned about Baul songs in Bengal. The relevant information is collected from the research works completed previously. The objectives of the paper are – 1] to analyse the nature of Baul songs as oral tradition and 2] to discuss the nature of the songs. Baul songs are holistic representation of face to face communication. Some clear aspects are prominently noted in this context like socio- cultural perspective, constructive orientation and deconstructive focus. A perfect classification of oral tradition based on form, content and function is hardly possible. Different scholars have given different categories of oral tradition. E.Bernheim distinguishes between the following categories of oral traditions: narratives, legends, anecdotes, proverbs and historical lays. Baul song is not simply an instrument for the amusement of masses. It should be considered as a subject of serious study. This genre of music bears the most valuable features of folk tradition. The recognized and celebrated component of Baul songs are anonymous and collective creation.