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Fakir Lalon Shah, also
known as Lalon Shah (c.1774-1890), lived
in the village of Cheuria in the area known
as Nodia during pre-colonial, undivided
Bengal and which is the District of Kushtia
in present-day Bangladesh.
Early life
Lalon intentionally kept his place of birth
and the identity of his parents unknown.
Around the age of sixteen he was found floating
by the bank of Kaliganga river, suffering
from smallpox. He was taken to the home
of Seraj Shah and his wife Matijan, who
brought him up.
Philosophy
Lalon left no trace of his birth or his
'origin' and remained absolutely silent
about his past, fearing that he would be
cast into class, caste or communal identities
by a fragmented and hierarchical society.
Despite this silence on his origins, communal
appropriation of this great politico-philosophical
figure has created a controversy regarding
whether he is 'Muslim' or a 'Hindu' -- a
'sufi' or a follower 'bhakti' tradition
-- a 'baul' or a 'fakir', etc. He is none,
as he always strove to go beyond all politics
of identities.
Lalon does not fit into the construction
of the so called 'bauls' or 'fakirs' as
a mystical or spiritual types who deny all
worldly affairs in desperate search for
a mystical ecstasy of the soul. Such construction
is very elite and middle class and premised
on the divide between 'modern' and 'spiritual'
world. It also conveniently ignores the
political and social aspects of Bengal's
spiritual movements and depoliticizes the
transformative role of 'bhakti' or 'sufi'
traditions. This role is still continued
and performed by the poet-singers and philosophers
in oral traditions of Bangladesh, a cultural
reality of Bangladesh that partly explains
the emergence of Bangladesh with distinct
identity from Pakistan back in 1971. Depicting
Lalon as 'baul shomrat' (the Emperor of
the Bauls) as projected by elite marginalizes
Lalon as a person belonging to a peripheral
movement, an outcast, as if he is not a
living presence and increasingly occupying
the central cultural, intellectual and political
space in both side of the border between
Bangladesh and India (West Bengal).
Works
Lalon has composed numerous songs and poems
which depicts his philosophy.Among his favorite
songs are khachar bhitor auchin pakhi, jat
gelo jat gelo bole, dekhna mon jhokmariay
duniyadari, paare loye jao amay, milon hobe
koto dine, aar amare marishne maa, tin pagoler
holo mela, etc.
Legacy
Lalon is one of the most brilliant and philosophically
insightful minds born in oral and textual
traditions who expressed his ideas in beautiful
songs and wonderful musical compositions
using instruments that could be made by
any rural households from materials available
at home: an Ektara (a one string musical
instrument) and a Dugdugi (a hand drum).
The texts of the songs was explicitly written
to engage in the philosophical discourses
of Bengal continuing since Tantric traditions
of the subcontinent, particularly Nepal,
Bengal and the Gangetic plains. In Lalon
one finds critical re-appropriation of the
various philosophical positions emanating
from the legacies of Hindu, Jaina, Buddha
and Islamic traditions developing into a
coherent discourse without falling into
the mixes of being syncretic. He is definitely
going to occupy a central position in various
ecological, feminist and politics of care
and responsibility aiming radical transformation
of the society. In recent years Lalon has
inspired Nayakrishi Andolon (New Agricultural
Movement), the well known biodiversity-based
ecological movements of the peasants of
Bangladesh as well as inspiring young musical
generations to build upon his oral and musical
foundations.
Influence
Lalon Shah had a perceptible influence on
the poet Rabindranath Tagore, who introduced
the Baul tradition of Bengal to the world.
His own music had been influenced by the
diversity of Baul tradition.
In 1963, a mausoleum and a research centre
were built at the site of his shrine, the
place of knowledge-practices. Thousands
of people come to the shrine known in Bengali
as akhra twice a year, Dol-Purnima, in the
month of Falgun (February to March) and
in October, on the occasion of the anniversary
of his death. During these three-day song
melas, people, particularly fakirs and bauls
pay tributes to this great mind the subcontinent
has produced.
American poet Allen Ginsberg was inspired
by Lalon Shah in writing his poem After
Lalon, included in the poetry collection
"Cosmopolitan Greetings." Ginsberg
adopts a poetic style similar to Lalon's
own style, frequently repeating his own
name within the poem.
Among the modern singers, Farida Parvin
is definitely the most notable one as she
has recorded so far 300 songs composed by
Lalon Shah.
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/
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