North Bengal's Folk Art

Siliguri, April 14, 2006: In a bid to promote and popularize folk music among the urban population in Siliguri, a two-day festival called ‘Anyo Parbon’ was held at the Dinabandhu Manch organised by ‘Uttal’, a theatre group based in Siliguri.
A sixty-year-old folk singer named Azimuddin Mia enthralled the audience with a wedding song titled aaj bujhi torey jabe loiha. He states that these wedding songs are no longer popular in Muslim marriages but this is a great opportunity for him to keep the tradition alive.

Besides, the wedding songs called jhari gaan the artist also performed murshidi - devotional songs of fakirs - along with his troupe and accompanied by his son. Another dhol (traditional drums) expert, Balaram Saha, wholly entertained the audience with his solo performance - this was the first time he had performed on stage; previously he had performed only on weddings and village dramas.

Members of Uttal said that the objective of the event was to educate the young generation on the folk culture and traditions of North Bengal.

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