Parvathy Baul

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Parvathy Baul is a singer, painter and storyteller from West Bengal. After receiving her initial music and dance training during her childhood, she studied visual arts at the Kala Bhavan at Shantiniketan, the university founded by Rabindranath Tagore.

Her meeting with the living tradition of Baul prompted her to choose the path of self-training in the Baul order rather than an institutional degree.

Since 1995 she has performed in her home state Bengal and all over India. She was also invited to participate in several international festivals including Festival de l'imaginaire (Paris), Festival international du Conte et du Monodrame (Beirut, Libanon), and Ethnomad (Geneva, Switzerland).

Her guest appearances include prestigeous venues like the Noh theatre at Kyoto (Japan) together with Kamigata-mai and Kyogen Performers, the World Music Center New York, Chicago University, and Bread and Puppet Theatre (Vermont).

She has contributed Baul songs, woodcut prints, and a documentary video to the new South Asian department, Tropenmuseum Amsterdam, (The Netherlands), 2008-18.

"Kerala and Bengal have for long shared many commonalities. Now, an artiste couple from the two states adds a new dimension to it" ... Read more in the interview by Renu Ramanath: A rootless singer met a puppeteer >> (expressbuzz.com) | pdf version >> (88 KB)

Listen to the singing of Parvathy Baul accompying herself on the ektara (one-stringed Baul instrument), duggi (clay drum) and nupur (anklet).

Duration: 3 min 47 seconds

Premgeethi
Beyond the times - love songs from Bengal

Ekathara Sangeetha Kalari 2007
with text booklet containing song translations, and photographs and explanations (glossary)

Ten items sung with ektara (drone) and duggi (handheld claydrum) accompaniment by Parvathy Baul

Song of the Great Soul by Parvathy Baul

Book cover - Art by Parvathy Baul and Ravi Gopalan Nair

The lyrics for this song from the book Song of the Great Soul by Parvathy Baul published by Ekatara Baul Sangeeta Kallari (Nedumangad 2005):

Janomo morono (Practice of Dying)

O my heart! Do the practice of dying, shall bring freedom
From the bondage of birth and death
Born to die, die to be born again.
Death, birth, nothing but endless suffering.

Aa, O, Am, three Vedas situated in muladhara,
Swadhishtana and manipura
This fact, the master practitioner knows;
He craves not after mundane mortal delights.

Parvathy Baul can be contacted for performances and tours at the following address:

Ekatara Baul Sangeeta Kallari
Chittore House, Mukkolakal
Nedumangad P. O.
695 541 Trivandrum Dist., Kerala
India

+91-472-2804150
raviparvathytrust@yahoo.co.in

Reviews

Parvathy Baul performance photo by B. Jayachandran - The Week "Her free spirit is a lifesaver to the listener, emitting an aura of hope and relief. ... The picture panels in front of which she performs are done by her, and belong to the rare Hamzanama series, kept in select museums across the world. She dances, swirling with her duggi and ek tara, and singing. This she would do for the theatre workshop for which she was preparing to go to Rome. ... How does she manage her stardom and her life as a Baul? 'Are they separate? We need to break free from the chains of our mind—the bonds of time, body and even of ourselves,' she says. To be free. " – Aparna Nair in The Week (September 20, 2009)

Mysticism abound

"Parvathy Baul, a well known baul artist from West Bengal, enthralled the viewers with the energy and spirituality in her performance. The high-pitched voice was able to reach even the last row without the help of microphones. Cladded in a saffron colour traditional wear, playing ektara and duggi along with jigs, she resembled Bhakta Meera conversing with the lord. Baul is a type of folk song, carrying influences of Hindu bhakti movements as well as the suphi, a form of Sufi song." - Smitha Peter in The New Indian Express (City Express Chennai) 5 February 2008

Art and soul of the nation

"Parvathy Baul: she currently tops the charts in Indian folk music, stunning audiences with her moving songs of Radha-Krishna bhakti and the Baul message of spiritual unity." - Sixty Indians who keep us culturally sound, grounded and proud in Hindustan Times Kolkata (Art & Culture), 14 August 2007

Soul Food: An evening of Sufi and Mystic Music

Baul sangeet is a very unique art of Bengal, where the artiste performing it has to be adept in several aspects - singing, poetry, music and dance. The performance by Parvathi Baul was truly amazing as she sang in a high-pitched emotional voice, plucking the ektara, playing the percussion instrument duggi and dancing beautifully, all at the same time. Her breath control and mastery over melody and rhythm were spellbinding. - Bharani in The New Indian Express (Chennai) 20 February 07

The CD Radha Bhava by Parvathy Baul, released by www.arion-music.com (Paris) in conjunction with the Ateliers d'Ethnomusicologie (French and English text by Laurent Aubert) in 2003, has won international acclaim:
"Parvathy's voice is entirely possessed by this mystical feeling of Baul poetry and never fails to radiate the fragrances associated with the revelation of compassion"; also available at www.adem.ch/CD/cdasiesud.html

Ruhaniyat Sufi & Mystic Songs, Vol II, Ninaad Music
"IN times of terror and disharmony, a desire to help the mind break free of all chaos resulted in the birth of Ruhaniyat, a live music festival of Sufi poetry and music. Serving as a platform for folk artists from all over the country, Ruhaniyat has been received very well by audiences in the past.
The second volume of this compilation addresses world peace and liberation of the soul through surrender to devotion.
The listener couldn’t have asked for a better way to end this wonderful compilation as Parvathy Baul strums her Ektaara, blending it beautifully with her unique voice in Tore rang dilo. One of the few remaining women to practice Baul, Parvathy’s voice is rich with skill and emotion that is bound to touch the listener with its unforced brilliance." - Paroma Mukherjee in Express Features Service ARTBEAT RHYTHM `N' VIEWS http://cities.expressindia.com/

From the heart

"While the much-famed Baul songs by Parvathy Baul and Madan Vairagya from West Bengal further captivated the audience, Sufi songs by Punjab’s Nanak and Manak Brothers, the African Siddhi Goma drummers and Delhi’s Nizami brothers— Ghulam Sabi and Ghulam Waris added to the evening’s trance element." - cities.expressindia.com

Pune Newsline, 27 February 2006

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References

p. 386, Restaging the Sixties: Radical Theaters and Their Legacies. James Martin Harding, Cindy Rosenthal (eds), University of Michigan Press, 2006.

CD Preemgeethi with booklet illustrated by Parvathy Baul

Puppetry

Big Concepts on Tiny Stages

"Ravi Gopalan Nair, as puppeteer, and Parvathy Baul, as co-puppeteer and singer, enacted the love and separation of Radha and Krishna and Radha's moving self-sacrifice with the simplicity of child's play and the gravity of classic tragedy." - Wall Street Journal 29.05.08