The Bhawaiya Song : Place of Woman in Bhawaiya; part 2 - The Sensual Love

In Bhawaiya love is not presented in an unworldly, supernatural or heavenly way. Here love portrays the hard-working real life situation of the common people of North Bengal. The hero and heroine meet in the extensive bounty and boundless solitude of nature for a moment only. Love through mutual understanding between them acts like touch stone in the midst of the fatigue of hard labour. And this immediately relieves the pains and stress of everyday life.

Hemanga Biswas observed that the songs of North Bengal are much more life-oriented than those of East Bengal. Here the river Torsha has not become Yamuna of Radha-Krishna, Chilmarir Bandar has not become Vrindabana; here the composers and singers have not yielded so much to the feudalism. According to Kali Dasgupta, the North Bengal songs are much more down to earth; here Kala (the hero) does the works of tilling lands, rowing boat and grazing cows and does not behave like Krishna with the flute in hands. There is no kind of hypocrisy in Bhawaiya.

In Bhawaiya songs the woman is the central character. She absorbs the feeling that she can move forward through any kind of difficult path if she gets the man as her companion and comrade.The feelings of love, passion, sorrow and pain of woman are mostly seen in Bhawaiya. The woman senses the feeling of love in mind right from the beginning of her budding youth. She feels the necessity in her life of a man who will meet her mental and physical needs and make her life fulfilling. If however, the hard realities of life do not make this possible and she does not get anybody after her mind she feels frustrated, dejected and all her hopes and aspirations of womanhood remain unfulfilled. The simple illiterate young girl at that moment has nothing to rely upon, except for putting blame on God. We get the expression of feelings and emotions of such a woman in most of the Bhawaiya songs.

This is a very old and the first printed Bhawaiya song which expresses the feelings and emotions of a young girl :

Prathama jauvaner kale na hail mor biya,

Ar katakal rahim ghare ekakini hoyya re Bidhi nidaya.

Haila pail mor sonar jauvan maleyar jhare

Mao bape mor hail badi na dil parer ghare re Bidhi nidaya

Bapok na kao sarame mui maok na kao laze,

Dhiki dhiki tusher aghun jaleche dehar majhe re Re bidhi nidaya….

Emon man mor karere bidhi emon man mor kare,

Moner matan chyangra paile dhariya palao dure Re bidhi nidaya.

In this song the woman in the bloom of youth has not been given to marriage in her prime of youth, which is gradually being withered away. Her parents are not in a position to arrange the marriage. The youthful woman is unable to express her mental feelings to anybody out of shame and fear. She feels like running away with a man of her choice marrying him and spending the conjugal life in peace and happiness. She won’t mind even if people speak ill of her and despise her for this act.

The feelings and emotions of the woman for Garial (cartman) and Maishal (buffalo-keepers) is another popular theme of Bhawaiya song. In some of the Bhawaiya songs the woman expresses her love towards the Garials and Maishals. 

This is an example of Bhawaiya song which expresses the feelings and emotion of the woman for the Garial (cartman) :

 

The feelings and emotions of the Garial (cartman) and Maishal (buffalo-keepers) for their wives and ladyloves can also be expressed through Bhawaiya songs.

Reference (text):

1. Bhawaiya____  Dr. Sukhbilas Barma

 Reference (video song): 

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOhgriPCnMk

The Bhawaiya Song : Place of woman in Bhawaiya ; Part 1

Woman has played predominant role in the folk based religion that has evolved out of the effects of interaction of various religious groups and speech groups. The role of woman in the society has been well recognized particularly because here woman is the companion of man in his economic pursuits of labour intensive agriculture and related activities.

Woman plays important role in socio-religious activities too. Woman is accepted as the priest of the rituals to agriculture. Agriculture-based folk society is controlled by the mother figure who is the source and abode of fertility and reproduction. This is why there is tremendous influence of folk goddess on Kamrup’s social life and lots of songs have evolved based on the glory and greatness of these deities.

The physical, mental and emotional life of the people here has been largely influenced by the bounty of nature. The singer and the composer of Bhawaiya intoxicated by the feasts of nature have sought inspiration from woman, the like figure of nature.

All the three forms of woman – mother, daughter and lover are reflected in Bhawaiya, although it is true that the lady love predominates as in other forms of folk in Bengal. Love has placed women to the realm of dream distant from the hard realities. Union, separation, grief and sorrows, and happiness on the other hand accompany love for either of both the sides.

In Bhawaiya, the mother form of woman we get mainly in the songs relating to the worship of deities and rituals – Shaitol Gaan, Bishahara Gaan, Tistaburir Gaan, Subacanir Gaan, Biyar Gaan etc. These folk deities are adored as mother goddess.There are, of course, a few songs reflecting the eternal love between mother and son or mother and daughter.

For example:

O mor kaga re kaga;

Jakhan mao mor rande bare patra na dyan kaga mayer haste

Mairbe mao mor agunot pariya re.

O mor kaga re kaga,

Jakhan mao mor anja kote, patra na dyan mayer haste,

Mairbe mao mor galat katari diya re…

Jakhan mao mor bichinat sote patra dyan kaga mayer haste.

Mairbe mao mor bichinat sutiya re.

Here the daughter form of woman in distress and grief is communicating her tales of sorrow through a letter to be carried to her mother by the crow. She is in such abject poverty and distress that the mother will commit suicide as soon as she knows the content of the letter. The daughter is asking the crow to deliver the letter in an appropriate time so that she can die in piece. The most appropriate time will be when she goes to bed after completing her day’s works.

In spite of this example, the predominant theme of Bhawaiya is the passionate love of the singer for his ladylove. The woman as ladylove and the stories of their eternal love have occupied the major portion of the domain of Bhawaiya.

The deep pangs of the heart of a woman is so touching in Bhawaiya that it overtakes the boundary of land, time and environment and creates an ever-lasting appeal. The expression of her feelings is very straight and simple without any hesitation and fear. The depth of man-woman relationship gives an extra-ordinary glory and prestige to Bhawaiya.

Reference (text):

1. Bhawaiya____  Dr. Sukhbilas Barma

The Bhawaiya Song : Musical Instruments used in Bhawaiya

Musical instrument is the inseparable part of any kind of song. Such as, the main instrument used for Baul song is Ektara, for Kirtan is Kartaal and Khol etc. The main instrument without which Bhawaiya song is incomplete is Dotora or Dotara. There are some other musical instruments that are also used in Bhawaiya. Some of those are Sarinda, Byana, Ar Banshi, Mukha Banshi etc.

Dotora or Dotara :

 It is about 2 to 2.5 feet long log usually of Jackfruit wood or Neem wood or Saitan wood with the circumference of about 13/14 inches at the bottom end and about 4/5 inches close to the top end. The bottom portion which is about 6 inches length is made hollow and crescent shaped with the help of chisel and covered with the animal skin in order to make the sound resonating. From the upper end of the hollow starts the middle portion of the instrument.

From here the instrument is made thinner and vertically flat; upper surface of this portion made hollow facilitating the skin cover to continue for a stretch of about 6 inches. The rest of the middle portion gradually becomes thinner and takes the shape of half round with the upper surface slightly flat for a stretch of about 6 inches. After this the shape is like a small chignon (topknot) where a hollow is made to facilitate the fixation of the ears made of small pieces of wood for rolling the strings at this end of the instrument. Four ears - two from each side are fixed through the holes made to roll four strings.

Dotora / Dotara

After this portion comes the top end portion of the instrument which is horizontally flat for a length of about 5 inches. At the extreme bottom end a very small chignon is carved out from the log to facilitate tying of a rope or thread to support a 1.5 inches long stick in which the strings are tied. Four strings of the instrument are thus tied with a stick placed over the skin cover at the bottom end rolled on the ears at the top end. For tension, the strings are placed on a bridge made of bamboo, wood or buffalo horn over the skin cover. Strings are tightened or loosened by twisting the ears. Strings are usually of muga spin or nylon.

The primary words (Bol) of Dotora lesson are – Dolodong Dolodong.

Sarinda :

Sarinda is crude form of the classical instrument Sarengi. It is made of a wooden log about 2 feet in length usually of Neem wood. The shape of the instrument is almost like the animal Iguana. 

Sarinda

Sarinda has three strings. The strings are rolled on the ears at the top and then taken along the length over a bridge fixed over the skin cover and then tied on a little stick, which is again tied back on a very small chignon carved out at the extreme bottom end. Stings are tuned by twisting the ears as in Dotora. The instrument is played with the help of bow and not stroke. The bow is made of thin bamboo piece with the horsetail hair fixed with it. Strings of the instrument are made of spun thread or tufted horsetail hair.

Byana :

It is a 1.5 feet long string instrument. This instrument, however, is not made of one piece of wooden log like Dotora or Sarinda. Three parts of Byana are made of three different materials. The bottom portion is a very small coconut shell cut halfway and covered by Goat skin or Iguana skin. Middle portion is a thin hollow bamboo is fixed with the coconut shell. At the top end is 4-5 inches long wooden log of almost equal circumference about 4 inches, which is fixed with the hollow bamboo. An ear made of bamboo or wooden piece is fixed horizontally through a hole made at the joint of the bamboo and wood. Byana has only one string made of a small tuft of horsetail hair.

Ar Banshi :

Flute made of thin hollow piece of bamboo about 1.5 feet long is commonly used in Bhawaiya. The buffalo-keeper, Maishal used to play the flute in addition to Dotora to get rid of loneliness and melancholy feelings and also to attract his ladylove who was expected to come to the river-step for bath or water. 

Ar Banshi

The structure of the commonly used flute is as follows. A small hole is made at a point about 2 inches below the top end and sound is produced with the blow from the mouth on this hole. Another 6 holes, sometimes 7 holes are made on a straight line with gap of about 1.2 inches in between two holes, starting from a point about 4/5 inches below the upper-most hole.

Mukha Banshi :

The main characteristic of this flute is its big mouth. The flute is made of a comparatively fat hollow bamboo about 6-7 inches circumference with the joint intact at top end. A piece of 1.5 inch length of a fatter hollow bamboo, whose inner circumference just fits the outer circumference of the main bamboo piece, is fixed on the top end. An aperture like a cap is made just below the joint of the two pieces and immediately above the hole, a thin flat hole is made through the cap to allow the wind to pass through. As in Ar Banshi, 6-7 apertures are made on a straight line starting from a place about 3 inches below the top aperture at equal interval of about 1.2 inches.

Beside these instruments there are some other instruments used in Bhawaiya. These are : Kartaal, Khol, Kansi, Dhak, Dhol, Dhulki etc.

Reference (text):

1. Bhawaiya____  Dr. Sukhbilas Barma

 Reference (image):

1. Google Images

The Bhawaiya Song : The Folk Community of Bhawaiya

                  Bhawaiya is a folk song. It bears all the characteristics of folk song. Folk songs are regional. Cultural reflection of the wider group of people of the particular region is the main characteristic of folk song. Folk song grows out of the folk community. It is the reflection of philosophy of the folk community.

            What is called folk community? It is a people of common background – social, economic, ethnic, sectional, urban, rural, mountainous, occupational. The background must have developed over a period of generations so that they are well set in the mind of the group. To common backgrounds are added common goals, interests and values and the most of all, common pressures. From backgrounds and common goals and awareness of common pressures evolves a common psychology.

               In the case of Bhawaiya this folk community is the Rajbanshi community of the then Kamrup. This area is nourished by the Rajbanshi cultural environment. However, it has to be made clear that not only Rajbanshi but the Brahmin, Khen, Yogi, Koch, Mech, Rabha, Muslim – all these people who have traditionally resided in the greater area of the then Kamrup are patron as part of this Rajbanshi culture. It can, therefore, be stated that the people of this area – their ideas, manners and behavior, philosophy of life, happiness and sorrow, religious belief, attitude to art and culture, the geographical features of the area, the river, nature, the language spoken in the area – all these have contributed to the growth of Bhawaiya.

                There are more than one viewpoint about the Rajbanshis. Some say, the Rajbanshis are of Kshatriya origin, and they have subsequently become degraded Kshatriya and made themselves known as Rajbanshi, the term denoting their association with the King (Raja), the Kshatriya. Others opine that they are included in the Koch tribe of Bodo origin. Both the viewpoints deserve some amount of discussions.

              The anthropological and cultural history of the Rajbanshi is intimately connected with the history of Kamrup-Kamta, Pragjyotispur, Pundravardhan, and then Cooch Behar. Entrusted with the responsibility of collecting information on the various sects of population of the Eastern India, Sir Buchanon Hamilton did a survey in the years between 1807 and 1817. Based on Buchanon Hamilton’s findings, Montgomary published “The History, Antiquity, Topography and Statistics of Eastern India” in 1838. Buchanon’s report “Account of the District Rangpore, 1810” inserted in that book gives an account of the history of the Rajbanshis. As such it is the principal source of this history. According to this report, Koch and Rajbanshis, both being part of the larger Bodo stock, belong to same caste. The report, however, says that not all the Rajbanshis are Koches, although most of them are. Those who have become degenerated by adopting the profession of palanquin bearer are Koch.

          According to Hunter, the Koches are related to the Mech and the Kacharis of the adjacent region and are descendantof the Himalayan group. They have become Rajbanshis after adopting Hinduism.

          H.B. Rawnwy has stated in his book, Wild Tribes of India, 1872 that as a result of inter caste marriages of the Koches with the Hindus, their ancient behavior, manner, culture and religious rites have undergone substantial changes. A part of the tribes thus Hinduised and converted in Rajbanshi.

        O. Donnel has viewed the whole of the Rajbanshi community to belong to the Mongolian stock from the stand point of origin. According to him, the Rajbanshis are a part of the third batch of Mongolian people coming through the eastern parts.

            We can find some similarities between the lifestyle of the Rajbanshis of North Bengal and the Mongolian people. Such as, the music of Bhawaiya song of North Bengal and Ulan-Batore of Mongolia are the same. As the main theorem of Mongolian song is Horse, the main theorem of Bhawaiya song is Buffalo. In Mongolia, the Maritoj, the horse-keeper is thought to be a lucky person as in North Bengal, the Maishal, the buffalo-keeper is thought to be the lucky person.

          It is clear from above discussion that the folk community of Bhawaiya song is the Rajbanshi community.

Reference:

1. Bhawaiyar Janmabhumi____ Mustafa Jaman Abbasi
2. Bhawaiya____  Dr. Sukhbilas Barma

The Bhawaiya Song : Characteristics of Bhawaiya

It is quite relevant to ask the question – Are the Bhawaiya – Chatka songs characteristically real folk songs?

In the analysis of folk songs, continuity, variation and selection – these three elements have to be studied properly. The process of continuity-variation-selection is contained in the definition of International Folk Music Council. According to International Folk Music Council, held in Sao Paolo, Brazil in 1954, the three main characteristics of folk song are – 1) Continuity, 2) Variation, and 3) Selection. If we analyze the inherent qualities of Bhawaiya, we are convinced that the basic characteristics of folk song are very much found in Bhawaiya.

Tune, music and style or form of folk song is the expression of the community life intertwined with the production process. The production process involves the factors like the geographical, physical and natural environment in which the community lives and grows.

The knowledge of intimate relation between a specific musical scale and a specific group of people is quite important. Mode and style of singing, articulation of music mode are regulated by regionality. Regionality is the life-breath of any folk song. The melodic pattern of folk song of any particular community composed with the interaction of ascend, descend, cadence and the related qualities of notes, is closely connected with the special characteristics of that particular community – the social, cultural life of the community.

Whatever forms of songs may exit in that communal life, they cannot go beyond that melodic pattern. That becomes the main tune of the community defined by the particular geographical boundary and dialectical boundary. Such as the main melodic pattern of North Bengal and Western Assam is Bhawaiya.

As the tunes of folk songs are traditional, common people do not have to bother about its tunes. Lyrics are mostly simple and not difficult to memorise and remember. The folk composers hardly bother about the various grammatical and musicological characters relating to meter, pitch, lexicography etc. They sing the songs, which have been sung from generation to generation with little variation here and there. Because they are so close to the soil, nature and are nurtured by the open wide environmental conditions, these compositions are full of unlimited simplicity and liveliness. Folk songs have, therefore, grown out of socio-religious-economic needs coupled with the needs of enjoyment and entertainment.

The Bhawaiya songs have been composed in Kamrupi or Rajbanshi dialect that has remained the lingua franca of this vast area from the ancient times. They have been sung in traditional manner both in solo and chorus forms. Solo Bhawaiya songs relate to love, affection, union, separation, happiness and sorrows of individuals, description of nature etc. Chorus Bhawaiya songs relate to social and ritual functions, marriage ceremonies, folk-dramas etc.

The intimate relation between the folk and nature is another main characteristic of Bhawaiya. In Bhwaiya nature takes the fore front place. Buffaloes, Elephants, Birds, Rivers of this area, all find place in this song. Sometimes they reflected directly and sometimes obliquely through comparisons.

          

           According to Hemanga Biswas, the famous folk singer and researcher - “Besides the beautiful lyrical qualities, even from the viewpoint of melodic structure and sharpness, Bhawaiya is a rare wealth of not only Bengal but also the entire nation.”

Judged from the above - mentioned important characteristics, it is clear that Bhawaiya is one of the popular folk songs of Bengal.

Reference:

1. Bhawaiyar Janmabhumi____ Mustafa Jaman Abbasi
2. Bhawaiya____  Dr. Sukhbilas Barma

The Bhawaiya Song : Origin of Bhawaiya

                               There have some queries about Bhawaiya that how old the Bhawaiya is, how has it originated and what course of evolution has it taken. It is very difficult to get exact replies to such queries. The scholars and musicologists have arrived at certain decisions on the basis of circumstantial evidences from sociological and anthropological findings. As such, it is assumed that the beginning of such songs was intrinsic to various rites, customs, worships of deities prevalent in the primitive society and the same has spread into various walks of life in later years. Side by side with Bahwaiya one finds ‘Chatka’, the brisk form of Bhawaiya. 

                                 It is assumed that Bhawaiya song was evolved in the 15^th or 16^th century and the same have been sung and transmitted orally for centuries together. The written form of lyrics of Bhawaiya was available first in the book Linguistic Survey of India, published by G.A. Grierson in 1904. He collects a few folk songs of local dialects from the districts of Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri and Rangpur towards the end of 19^th century. Some more examples of lyrics of these songs are available in printed form from the Rangpur Sahitya Parishad Patrika published in 1908-1912.But nothing can be known as to when and who composed these songs.

                           Most of the popular and important Bhawaiya – Chatka songs have been sung and orally transmitted before the 1930’s. Quite a good number of such songs were rendered into gramophone records in the 1930’s. The initiative was taken by Harish Chandra Pal, a devoted folklorist of Cooch Behar. Some other lyricists who composed Bhawaiya – Chatka songs were Abdul Karim, Pyarimohan Das, Gangadhar Das etc. But the number of their writings was negligible compared to the number of most popular traditional Bhawaiya – Chatka songs.

                               As the popular Bhawaiya – Chatka songs have been orally transmitted and have not been printed in any books, they have had some variations in lyrics quite often. For this reason we can notice variations in lyrics of a particular song. The particular groups of people who sing those songs have retained them through proper scrutiny and selection process only because they have found in them the medium of expression of their feelings, happiness and sorrows, love, affections, their philosophy of life.

                              An example of a very popular Chatka song will be helpful to explain such variatons…..

Variation – 1 :    Oki bap re bap mao re mao, kam karibar na paon muin

                             Ai komorer bise na re.

                            Hal boyya asilen pati bhale karilen kam

                            Chagal bandhilen pati bhale karilen kam

                            Urun giant bir kariya dhan pac syar ban.

Variation – 2 :    Chagol duita bandhi asilen bhale karilen kaj

                             Ghar chairta samti ela bhara khora maj

                             Bhara khora majlu pati tui re amar pran

                             Urun gain joteya ani dhan pac syar ban.

Variation – 3 :    Oho bap re bap, oho mao re mao, na paon muin kamai karibar

                             Kamai karir na paon pati oi kamarer bise

                             Hakkat kariya ki hail kabar na paon kise

                             Hal boyya asilu bari jhapi mathat diya

                             Hutti tho tor nangol jongal bara banek asiya.

Variation – 4 :    Hal boyya asilu musa bhale karlu kam

                            Nangol jongal atti thuiya bara chairta ban.

                        Bhawaiya – Chatka songs, therefore, have no longer remained a genre orally transmitted, as it has usually happened to other forms of folk songs also. It is, however, still a fact that the compositions of unknown lyrics that have been transmitted and accepted by the people are the ones that are mostly sung by the traditional singers and as such very popular. Songs of new and unknown composers, except for a few, have not gained much popularity.

 Reference:

1. Bhawaiya __ Dr . Sukhbilas Barma 

The Bhawaiya Song : What is the meaning of the word Bhawaiya

             According to Abbasuddin, the most popular singer of Bhawaiya – “Bhawaiya song is the wealth of North Bengal. Its movement is like that of wind blowing at random and so it is called Bhawaiya.”

            Cooch Behar and some other districts of North Bengal such as Jalpaiguri, part of Darjeeling, northern part of West Dinajpur and Dhubri and Goalpara districts of Assam and Rangpur district of Bangladesh are famous for Bhawaiya song. The language of this wide area is Rajbanshi or Kamrupi. The lyrics of Bhawaiya are in Rajbanshi language. The feelings of love and separation are one of the most popular themes of these songs. This genre of singing is very popular among labourers.

            There are various viewpoints on the meaning of Bhawaiya. Some argued that the term Bhawaiya has come from ‘Bhawa’. ‘Bhawa’ is low lying places left behind by the change of course of the rivers which remain inundated during most part of the year and which are full of water grown shrubs and bushes that are known as Kush or Kasiya. These are good grazing lands for buffaloes. The buffalo-keepers who are known as Maisal used to sing these Bhawaiya songs while grazing buffaloes on these Bhawas and songs waved through the nearby villages. They speak of huge number of songs connected with buffalo and its keepers in Bhawaiya in support of their argument.

            Others say it has come from ‘Bao’ and still others refer to ‘Bhao’. There is another viewpoint according to which it has been derived from the term ‘Baudiya’ or ‘Baura’. Others opine that Bhawaiya is the changed from of ‘Bawaiya’. The ‘Bao’ means breeze or wind. The tunes of the songs sung by the buffalo-keepers on the Bhawa, by the farmers on the working fields waved through the villages carried by wind and the song was therefore called Bawaiya from which came the changed form of Bhawaiya. But this is a minority view.

             Suren Ray Basunia , one of the sinceremost devotees of Bhawaiya in the early part of 20^th century has given the view about the derivative meaning of Bhawaiya that is widely accepted. According to him, the song full of emotional feelings that urges the people to think deeply is called Bhawaiya. The derivative is Bhav > Bhao + Iya = Bhaoiya. The derivative meaning of this song is one who is emotionally charged. In this region one who eats is called Khaoia, one who sings is Gaoia and similarly one who thinks is Bhaoia. The song is so simple in its tune and theme that the feeling and meaning it conveys can be understood easily.

           It is noting that almost all the Bhawaiya singers have said that Bhawaiya has come from Bhav > Bhao + Iya = Bhaoiya. The question therefore arise what is the actual word – Bhawaiya or Bhaoia? If we notice carefully the viewpoint of Suren Ray Basunia and the way it is pronounced by the older generation people of Bhawaiya region the term appears to be Bhaoia. For example, they will say "চলো রে ভাযিয়া গান শুনির যাই "(Let us go to hear the Bhaoia song). There is a popular saying in the villages – "দোতরার ডাং আর ভাযিয়া গান, পাগল কইরেছে কইন্যার মন ".

           In Rajbanshi language the other meaning of Bhav is love and attachment. ‘Bhaver bandhu, Bhaver deora’ – these phrases are quite common these songs. Bhawaiya is firmly seized with love; love between man and woman, love for nature, animals, birds etc. With this meaning of Bhav, the viewpoint about the Bhawaiya from the word Bhav sounds reasonable.

               It is therefore, quite clear from the above discussion that the viewpoint of Bhawaiya being derived from the word Bhav > Bhao is much more reasonable and acceptable.

 Reference:

1. Bhawaiya __ Dr . Sukhbilas Barma 
2. en.wikipedia.org

The Bhawaiya Song : An Introduction

                             On writing about the traditional folk music Bhawaiya, the first question that comes to mind is why one person should be interested in Bhawaiya. The reason is the music itself. Bhawaiya is one of the oldest traditional folk form of Bengal which possesses the essence of traditional Bengali folk culture.

                 
                                    Music is an art. It combines the sound in such a way as to gratify our ears or effect our imagination or both. It is an atmosphere conditioned by a network of conjuring tones or of sensible variety of rhythm or both. It is an aesthetic representation of the artists' inner depth-production of the tonal form or picture, corresponding to that of the mind combined with colour, pitch, grace, harmony, melody, succession of tones and micro tones.

                        
                               To Yehudi Menuhin it is music that welds spiritual and sensual that can convey ecstasy free of guilt, faith without dogma, love as homage. According to him, music is the oldest form of expression, older than language or art.

" It begins with the voice, and with our overwhelming need to reach out to others, music touches our feelings more deeply than most words and makes us respond with our whole being......As long as the human races survive, music will be essential to us. We need music, I believe, as much as we need each other. " ___  Yehudi Menuhin

                       
                               The basic element of music is 'sound' which is manifested in the form of tone and micro tones. Indian psychologists and philosophers say that the psyche or soul of music is made up of sounds with emotions. Early Indian music was Srooti ridden, as the vocal-chord was then highly efficient to reproduce the subtle existence of tone. Srooti is the minutest form of sound that our ears can recognize.

                     
                                  The phrase 'folk music' is a German phrase applied exclusively to peasant songs originally. In 1907, Cecil Sharp defined folk music as the spontaneous music of the unspoiled, illiterate classes created out of their pure natural instinct. According to Sharp, folk music reflects feelings and tastes that are communal rather than personal. Folk community is a people of common backgrounds - social, economic, ethnic, sectional, urban, rural, mountainous, occupational. The common people always want to express themselves and their livelihood through this folk music.The songs and instrumental pieces in folk culture must be accepted by an essential part of the population; otherwise they will not live. The oral tradition is the only way in this culture to preserve and transmit the music. Generation after generation music is passed by word of mouth, songs learnt by hearing and instruments making and playing learnt by watching.
                     The main characteristics of folk song is transmission by oral tradition, not written down and as a result it develops variants and the original form is rarely known. Folk music normally is created by untrained, unprofessional musicians and performed by singers and players with little or no theoretical background. Song is old; style is archaic. But folk cultures do have a history; they allow their music to change, their compositions to be altered and their repertory to be turned over. It is the musical expression of a whole people or tribe or a significant portion of a culture.
                       
                         Such as Bhawaiya is the musical expression of the people of North Bengal. It is mainly popular in the rural areas of North Bengal especially in Cooch Behar and also in few districts of Bangladesh especially in Rangpur. The other districts those are popularly known for Bhawaiya song are - Jalpaiguri, part of Darjeeling, North Dinajpur of West Bengal and Goalpara and Dhubri of Assam. This is popular in Kamtapur state also.

The Two Bhawaiya Singers

Though entire North Bengal is known as the birthplace of Bhawaiya song, the village Balarampur of Cooch Behar is the core area for Bhawaiya. The language of this song is Rajbanshi.Bhawaiya is free from religious bias. These songs depicts longings and pathos or love, and some other similar feelings such as relationships of a woman with her mother-in-law and sister-in-law and so on.

The main instrument that is played with Bhawaiya is Dotora or Dotara.As the instrument has two strings it is called Dotara ( Do = Two, Tara = Taar = String).Though the Rajbanshi language is slowly become obsolete in modern days, the Bhawaiya song still has a popularity among the people of North Bengal as well as among the others those who love traditional folk music.

                         
                            


                     This is a short introduction on the folk music and the Bhwaiya song.



Reference:

1. Bhawaiyar Janmabhumi____ Mustafa Jaman Abbasi
2. Bhawaiya____  Dr. Sukhbilas Barma
3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhawaiya