Puducherry to host second edition of Baul Retreat

The second edition of 'Baul Retreat', a programme celebrating the centuries old tradition and music of Bauls--the mystic minstrels living in West Bengal and Bangladesh, will be held in Puducherry in October.
A number of eminent Baul practitioners from and outside the country are expected to participate in the six-day event, beginning on October 13.
Well-known Baul singer Parvathy Baul said the retreat would be an opportunity for the public to experience Baul.
"Participants will have a retreat and a chance to get immersed in the inner as well as physical work of Baul through songs, yoga, pranayama and many other activities," she said here.

The event is being organised jointly by city-based 'Ekathara Kalari', a Baul music gurukul here run by Parvathy and Aurodhan Pondicherry.
Besides Parvathy, baul practitioners like Shahjahan Munshi from Bangladesh and Biswanath Das Baul, Lakshman Das Baul and Nitai Chandra Das, all from West Bengal, are expected to be part of the event.
"Baul is more than just music. It is a genre of its own, of spiritual work and knowledge, which has been passed down from a master to a disciple through gurushishya parampara over countless generations," Parvathy, who has been living here for over 15 years, said.
The first Baul Retreat was held here in December 2014.