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Baul
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Baul songs
UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage
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Bangladesh
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A singing Baul
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Baul or Bauls (Bengali: বাউল) are a group of mystic minstrels from Bengal, which includes the country of Bangladesh and the Indian State of West Bengal. Bauls constitute both a syncretic religious sect and a musical tradition. Bauls are a very heterogeneous group, with many sects, but their membership mainly consists of Vaishnava Hindus and Sufi Muslims.[1][2] They can often be identified by their distinctive clothes and musical instruments. Not much is known of their origin. Lalon is regarded as the most important poet-practitioner of the Baul tradition.[3][4][5] Baul music had a great influence on Rabindranath Tagore's poetry and on his music (Rabindra Sangeet).[6]
Although Bauls comprise only a small fraction of the Bengali population, their influence on the culture of Bengal is considerable. In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.[7]
Contents
[hide]
1 Etymology
2 History
3 Concepts and practices
4 Music
5 Rabindranath Tagore
6 As described by Ramakrishna
7 Impact of Kalachand Vidyalankar upon Sahajia Bauls
8 Present status
9 Notable Singers
10 See also
11 Notes
12 Bibliography
13 References
14 External links
Etymology[edit]
The word Baul has its etymological origin in the Sanskrit word Vātūla ("mad", from vāyu - "air" or "wind") and is used for someone who is possessed or crazy. Bauls are an extension of the Sahajiya philosophy, which in turn derives from the Nath tradition. They believe in living the world as a half-sanyasi.[8]
The origin of the word Baul is debated. Some modern scholars, like Shashibhusan Das Gupta have suggested that it may be derived either from Sanskrit word vatula, which means "enlightened, lashed by the wind to the point of losing one's sanity, god's madcap, detached from the world, and seeker of truth", or from vyakula, which means "restless, agitated" and both of these derivations are consistent with the modern sense of the word, which denotes the inspired people with an ecstatic eagerness for a spiritual life, where a person can realise his union with the eternal beloved – the Moner Manush (the person of the heart).[9]
History[edit]
The origin of Bauls is not known exactly, but the word "Baul" has appeared in Bengali texts as old as the 15th century. The word is found in the Chaitanya Bhagavata of Vrindavana Dasa Thakura as well as in the Chaitanya Charitamrita of Krishnadasa Kaviraja.[10] Some scholars maintain that it is not clear when the word took its sectarian significance, as opposed to being a synonym for the word madcap, agitated. Bauls are a part of the culture of rural Bengal. Many attempts have been made to ascertain the origin of Bauls but there is wide disagreement among scholars[11]. But they agree that no founders have been acknowledged either by Bauls themselves or others[12]. Whatever their origin, Baul thought has mixed elements of Tantra, Sufi Islam, Vaishnavism and Buddhism. They are thought to have been influenced by the Hindu tantric sect of the Kartabhajas, as well as Tantric Vaishnava schools like the Vaishnava-Sahajiya. Some scholars find traces of these thoughts in the ancient practices of Yoga as well as the Charyapadas, which are Buddhist hymns that are the first known example of written Bengali. The Bauls themselves attribute their lack of historical records to their reluctance to leave traces behind. Dr. Jeanne Openshaw writes that the music of the Bauls appears to have been passed down entirely in oral form until the end of the 19th century, when it was first transcribed by outside observers.[13]
There are two classes of Bauls: ascetic Bauls who reject family life and Bauls who live with their families. Ascetic Bauls renounce family life and society and survive on alms. They have no fixed dwelling place, but move from one akhda to another. Men wear white lungis and long, white tunics; women wear white saris. They carry a jhola or shoulder bag for alms. They do not beget or rear children. They are treated as jyante mara or outcastes. Women, dedicated to the service of ascetics, are known as sevadasis (seva, service+dasi, maidservant). A male Baul can have one or more sevadasis, who are associated with him in the act of devotion. Until 1976 the district of Kushtia had 252 ascetic Bauls. In 1982-83 the number rose to 905; in 2000, they numbered about 5,000.[citation needed]
Those who choose family life live with their wives, children and relations in a secluded part of a village. They do not mix freely with other members of the community. Unlike ascetic Bauls, their rituals are less strict. In order to become Bauls, they recite some mystic verses and observe certain rituals.[14]
Concepts and practices[edit]
Tarundas Baul
Ektara, common accompaniment of Baul Gaan, (Songs of Baul)
Lalon is called Baul Shamrat (King of Bauls) in Bangladesh
Baul music celebrates celestial love, but does this in very earthy terms, as in declarations of love by the Baul for his bosh-tomi or lifemate. With such a liberal interpretation of love, it is only natural that Baul devotional music transcends religion and some of the most famous baul composers, such as Lalon Fokir, criticised the superficiality of religious divisions:
Everyone asks: "Lalan, what's your religion in this world?"
Lalan answers: "How does religion look?"
I've never laid eyes on it.
Some wear malas [Hindu rosaries] around their necks,
some tasbis [Muslim rosaries], and so people say
they've got different religions.
But do you bear the sign of your religion
when you come or when you go?[15]
The famous Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore was greatly influenced and inspired by Bauls. Here is a famous Rabindrasangeet (Tagore song), heavily influenced by Baul theme:
amar praner manush achhe prane
tai here taye shokol khane
Achhe she noyōn-taray, alōk-dharay, tai na haraye--
ogo tai dekhi taye Jethay shethay
taka-i ami je dik-pane
The man of my heart dwells inside me.
Everywhere I look, it is he.
In my every sight, in the sparkle of light
Oh, I can never lose him--
Here, there and everywhere,
Wherever I turn, he is right there!
Their religion is based on an expression of the body (Deho Sadhana), and an expression of the mind (Mana Sadhana). Some of their rituals are kept hidden[citation needed] from outsiders, as they might be thought to be repulsive or hedonistic. Bauls concentrate much of their mystic energies on the four body fluids, on the nine-doors (openings of the body), on prakriti as "nature" or "primal motive force", and on breath Sadhana.
Satyananda Das Baul
Music[edit]
Baul singers at Vasantotsav, Santiniketan in West Bengal
Parvathy Baul in Kolkata
The music of the Bauls, Baul Sangeet, is a particular type of folk song. Its lyrics carry influences of the Hindu bhakti movements and the suphi, a form of Sufi song exemplified by the songs of Kabir. Their music represents a long heritage of preaching mysticism through songs in Bengal, as in the Shahebdhoni or Bolahadi sects.
Bauls pour out their feelings in their songs but never bother to write them down. Theirs is essentially an oral tradition. It is said that Lalon Fokir (1774 -1890), the greatest of all Bauls, continued to compose and sing songs for decades without ever stopping to correct them or put them on paper. It was only after his death that people thought of collecting and compiling his repertoire.
Play media
Gacher pata taka keno hoy na, Baul song performance at the Saturday haat, Sonajhuri, Birbhum.
Their lyrics intertwine a deep sense of mysticism, a longing for oneness with the divine. An important part of their philosophy is "Deha tatta", a spirituality related to the body rather than the mind. They seek the divinity in human beings. Metaphysical topics are dwelt upon humbly and in simple words. They stress remaining unattached and unconsumed by the pleasures of life even while enjoying them. To them we are all a gift of divine power and the body is a temple, music being the path to connect to that power.[8][16]
Bauls use a number of musical instruments: the most common is the ektara, a one-stringed "plucked drum" drone instrument, carved from the epicarp of a gourd, and made of bamboo and goatskin. Others include the dotara, a long-necked fretless lute (while the name literally means "two stringed" it usually has four metal strings) made of the wood of a jackfruit or neem tree; besides khamak, one-headed drum with a string attached to it which is plucked. The only difference from ektara is that no bamboo is used to stretch the string, which is held by one hand, while being plucked by another.[17] Drums like the duggi, a small hand-held earthen drum, and dhol and khol; small cymbals called khartal and manjira, and the bamboo flute are also used. Ghungur and nupur are anklets with bells that ring while the person wearing them dances.
A Baul family played on stage in London for The Rolling Stones' Hyde Park concerts in 1971, '72 and '78 in front of thousands.[16]
Rabindranath Tagore[edit]
The songs of the Bauls and their lifestyle influenced a large swath of Bengali culture, but nowhere did it leave its imprint more powerfully than on the work of Rabindranath Tagore, who talked of Bauls in a number of speeches in Europe in the 1930s. An essay based on these was compiled into his English book The Religion of Man:
The Bauls are an ancient group of wandering minstrels from Bengal, who believe in simplicity in life and love. They are similar to the Buddhists in their belief in a fulfillment which is reached by love's emancipating us from the dominance of self.
Baul singers in performance at Santiniketan, India.
Where shall I meet him, the Man of my Heart?
He is lost to me and I seek him wandering from land to land.
I am listless for that moonrise of beauty,
which is to light my life,
which I long to see in the fullness of vision
in gladness of heart. [p.524]
The above is a translation of the famous Baul song by Gagan Harkara: Ami kothai pabo tare, amar moner manush je re. The following extract is a translation of another song:
My longing is to meet you in play of love, my Lover;
But this longing is not only mine, but also yours.
For your lips can have their smile, and your flute
its music, only in your delight in my love;
and therefore you importunate, even as I am.
The poet proudly says: 'Your flute could not have its music of beauty if your delight were not in my love. Your power is great—and there I am not equal to you—but it lies even in me to make you smile and if you and I never meet, then this play of love remains incomplete.'
The great distinguished people of the world do not know that these beggars—deprived of education, honour and wealth—can, in the pride of their souls, look down upon them as the unfortunate ones who are left on the shore for their worldly uses but whose life ever misses the touch of the Lover's arms.
This feeling that man is not a mere casual visitor at the palace-gate of the world, but the invited guest whose presence is needed to give the royal banquet its sole meaning, is not confined to any particular sect in India.
A large tradition in medieval devotional poetry from Rajasthan and other parts of India also bear the same message of unity in celestial and romantic love and that divine love can be fulfilled only through its human beloved.
Tagore's own compositions were powerfully influenced by Baul ideology. His music also bears the stamp of many Baul tunes. Other Bengali poets, such as Kazi Nazrul Islam, have also been influenced by Baul music and its message of non-sectarian devotion through love.
Rabindranath Tagore was greatly influenced and inspired by Bauls. Here is a famous Rabindrasangeet (Tagore song), heavily influenced by Baul theme:
Amar praner manush achhé prané
Tai heri taye sakol khane
Achhe shé nayōntaray, alōk-dharay, tai na haraye--
Ogo tai dekhi taye jethay sethay
Taka-i ami jé dik-pané
The man of my heart dwells inside me.
Everywhere I behold, it's Him!
In my every sight, in the sparkle of light
Oh I can never lose Him --
Here, there and everywhere,
Wherever I turn, right in front is He![18]
All bāulas shared only one belief in common—that God is hidden within the heart of man and neither priest, prophet, nor the ritual of any organized religion will help one to find Him there. They felt that both temple and mosque block the path to truth; the search for God must be carried out individually and independently.[19]
As described by Ramakrishna[edit]
From page 513 of the Sri Sri Ramakrishna Kathamrita:
According to the Sakti cult the siddha is called a koul, and according to the Vedanta, a paramahamsa. The Bauls call him a sai. They say, "No one is greater than a sai." The sai is a man of supreme perfection. He doesn't see any differentiation in the world. He wears a necklace, one half made of cow bones and the other of the sacred tulsi-plant. He calls the Ultimate Truth "Alekh", the "Incomprehensible One". The Vedas call it "Brahman". About the jivas the Bauls say, "They come from Alekh and they go unto Alekh." That is to say, the individual soul has come from the Unmanifest and goes back to the Unmanifest. The Bauls will ask you, "Do you know about the wind?" The "wind" means the great current that one feels in the subtle nerves, Ida, Pingala, and Sushumna, when the Kundalini is awakened. They will ask you further, "In which station are you dwelling?" According to them there are six "stations", corresponding to the six psychic centers of Yoga. If they say that a man dwells in the "fifth station", it means that his mind has climbed to the fifth centre, known as the Visuddha chakra. (To Mahendranath Gupta) At that time he sees the Formless.
Impact of Kalachand Vidyalankar upon Sahajia Bauls[edit]
To the Spiritual Monk, Kalachand Vidyalankar, Hinduism is not a religion; it is a social guideline – how to lead an ideal and spiritual life. It's a culture which inspired the mankind for ages. He believed, it is knowledge (Vedas), not religion which can uplift mankind from narrowness of mind. To cross the domestic boundaries and superstitious bondages, he ordained the basic education is a must for all irrespective of caste, creed, sex and nationality.
There remains a primordial integrity between the gospel of Kalachand and the Spiritual ideology of Bauls and Fokirs. The comparison between the two form of spirituality and their humanistic aspects can be an elaborate exercise. In fact plenty of material and avenues does not exist to deliberate on the issue. However, it can certainly be an intriguing and long research topic for the keen scholars of social anthropology.
But, for the sake of simplifications, we would like to shorten the issue by just comparing the essence of the Baul songs inspired by Kalachand with another which later Rabindranath Tagore described as Religion of Man. Of course this will leave open a wide area of hitherto unexplored treasure trove. But these two lyrics by two spiritual institutions of Bengal will nevertheless shed ample light on difference of perceptions. In fact, the difference can be quite poignant with a vast shift of the basics on which the concept of spiritualism is built on. To many, Kalachand Vidyalankar is known as Kalachand Fokir and his Baul followers are known as 'Kalachandi Mat'(Kalachand's cult) or 'Kalachandi Akhra'.
The metaphysical Baul lyrics raise a basic question- that if there is a single creator then why so many religions exist? This is a pertinent problem in today’s world; we all know that the different ‘Gods’ have created acrimony between races and sects and as of today this concept of different ‘Gods’ remains the most decisive divisive force on planet Earth. In this context it would perhaps be appropriate to note that the Bauls in essence do not believe in the diktat of denizens of the Heaven; there is no world for the Bauls beyond which can be perceived by the direct human senses.
They just do not believe in the pious ‘other world’ and most of the times deny the presence of super powers. Looking from a different angle it can be said that according to the Bauls and Fokirs, ‘God’ resides in each human being and it is for the human being to realise this truth. This is the primary search the Bauls and Fokirs undertake, and according to them human beings are the best exponents of spirituality ever to tread on this Earth.
Present status[edit]
Paban Das Baul at "Nine Lives" concert, 2009
Bauls are found in the Indian state of West Bengal and the eastern parts of Bihar and Jharkhand and the country of Bangladesh. The Baul movement was at its peak in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but even today one comes across the occasional Baul with his Ektara (one-stringed musical instrument) and begging bowl, singing across the farflung villages of rural Bengal. Travelling in local trains and attending village fairs are good ways to encounter Bauls.
Every year, in the month of Falgun (February to March), "Lalon Smaran Utshab" (Lalon memorial festival) is held in the shrine of Lalon in Kushtia, Bangladesh, where bauls and devotees of Lalon from Bangladesh and overseas come to perform and highlight the mystics of Lalon.[20]
Palli Baul Samaj Unnayan Sangstha (PBSUS), a Bangladeshi organisation, has been working to uphold and preserve the ‘baul’ traditions and philosophy for the last nine years. The organisation often arranges programmes featuring folk songs for urban audiences.[21]
Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy often organises national and international festivals and seminars, featuring the Baul music and the importance of preservation of Baul tradition.
In the village of Jaydev Kenduli, a Mela (fair) is organised in memory of the poet Jayadeva on the occasion of Makar Sankranti in the month of Poush. So many Bauls assemble for the mela that it is also referred to as "Baul Fair".
In the village of Shantiniketan during Poush Mela, numerous Bauls also come together to enthrall people with their music.
For the last five years a unique show has been organised in Kolkata, called "Baul Fakir Utsav". Bauls from several districts of Bengal as well as Bangladesh come to perform. The 6th Baul fakir Utsav will be held on 8 and 9 January 2011. The Utsav is a continuous 48-hour musical experience.
There are also the Western Bauls in America and Europe under the spiritual direction of Lee Lozowick, a student of Yogi Ramsuratkumar. Their music is quite different (rock /gospel/ blues) but the essence of the spiritual practices of the East is well maintained.[22]

In Bangalore near Electronic City Dr. Shivshankar Bhattacharjee has started Boul Sammelon (Gathering of Baulls) on 7-9th April-2017 on the occasion of the inauguration of Sri Sri Kali Bari (Goodness Kali's Temple). First time it held in Bangalore to embrace the Boul culture. More that 50 Bouls participated and sang soulful songs.
Currently another version of Baul called the folk fusion also called baul rock is also greatly accepted by the audience, especially in West Bengal. Kartik das baul being a traditional folk singer, who has taken baul to different heights is being associated with folk fusion. This type of baul was brought into the world of music by Bolepur bluez, which was world's first folk fusion band.
Notable Singers[edit]
List of Baul artists
See also[edit]
Lalon
Music of Bangladesh
Parvathy Baul
Notes[edit]
Jump up ^ "Baul (Indian music)". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 18 June 2015.
Jump up ^ "Bauled over". The Times of India. 6 Feb 2010.
Jump up ^ Multiple editors (2007). World and its People: Eastern and Southern Asia. New York: Marshal Cavendish Corporation. p. 480. ISBN 978-0-7614-7631-3. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
Jump up ^ Khan, Shamsuzzaman (editor) (1987). Folklore of Bangladesh V-1. Dhaka: Bangla Academy. p. 257. CS1 maint: Extra text: authors list (link)
Jump up ^ Chowdhury, Kabir (1985). Folk Poems From Bangladesh. Dhaka: Bangla Academy. pp. ii.
Jump up ^ Hoiberg, Dale; Ramchandani, Indu (2000). Students' Britannica India. Popular Prakashan. p. 172. ISBN 0-85229-760-2.
Jump up ^ Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. UNESCO. 25 September 2005.
^ Jump up to: a b "Bauls of Bengal". Hinduism.about.com. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
Jump up ^ Das Gupta, Shashibhusan (1946, reprint 1995). Obscure Religious Cults, Calcutta: Firma KLM, ISBN 81-7102-020-8, pp.160-1
Jump up ^ Das Gupta, Shashibhusan (1946, reprint 1995). Obscure Religious Cults, Calcutta: Firma KLM, ISBN 81-7102-020-8, p.160ff
Jump up ^ Openshaw, Jeanne; Seeking Bāuls of Bengal p.58
Jump up ^ Openshaw, Jeanne; Seeking Bāuls of Bengal p.56
Jump up ^ Openshaw, Jeanne; Seeking Bāuls of Bengal p.56
Jump up ^ Karim, Anwarul (2012). "Baul". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
Jump up ^ Lopez, Donald (1995). Religions in India in Practice - "Baul Songs". Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 187–208. ISBN 0-691-04324-8. Archived from the original on 21 November 2011.
^ Jump up to: a b Music (26 July 2011). "Bauls of Bengal – The Liberation Seekers". Emaho Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
Jump up ^ Dilip Ranjan Barthakur (2003). The Music And Musical Instruments Of North Eastern India. Mittal Publications. pp. 130–. ISBN 978-81-7099-881-5. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
Jump up ^ [1] "Bauls of Bangladesh". www.scribd.com
Jump up ^ Edward C. Dimock, Jr., "Rabindranath Tagore—’The Greatest of the Bāuls of Bengal,’" The Journal of Asian Studies (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Association for Asian Studies), vol. 19, no. 1 (Nov. 1959), 36–37.
Jump up ^ Aman, Amanur (13 March 2012). "Lalon Smaran Utshab ends". The Daily Star. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
Jump up ^ info@banglamusic.com (20 January 2012). "Baul Mela 2009 Bangla Music – Bangla Song Bangla Video Bengali Music Mp3 News". Banglamusic.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-18. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
Jump up ^ Helen Crovetto, "Embodied Knowledge and Divinity: The Hohm Community as Western-style Bāuls," Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 10, no. 1 (August 2006): pp. 69-95.
Bibliography[edit]
Enamul Haq, Muhammad (1975), A history of Sufism in Bengal, Asiatic Society, Dhaka.
Qureshi, Mahmud Shah (1977), Poems Mystiques Bengalis. Chants Bauls Unesco. Paris.
Siddiqi, Ashraf (1977), Our Folklore Our Heritage, Dhaka.
Karim, Anwarul (1980), The Bauls of Bangladesh. Lalon Academy, Kushtia.
Mukherjee, Prithwindra (1981), Chants Caryâ du bengali ancien (édition bilingue), Le Calligraphe, Paris.
Mukherjee, Prithwindra (1985), Bâul, les Fous de l'Absolu (édition trilingue), Ministère de la Culture/ Findakly, Paris
Capwell, Charles (1986), The Music of the Bauls of Bengal. Kent State University Press, USA 1986. ISBN 0-87338-317-6.
Dimock, Edward C. (1989), The Place of the Hidden Moon: Erotic Mysticism in the Vaisnava-Sahajiya Cult of Bengal, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ISBN 0-226-15237-5, ISBN 978-0-226-15237-0
Bandyopadhyay, Pranab (1989), Bauls of Bengal. Firma KLM Pvt, Ltd., Calcutta.
Mcdaniel, June (1989), The Madness of the Saints. Chicago.
Sarkar, R. M. (1990), Bauls of Bengal. New Delhi.
Brahma, Tripti (1990), Lalon : His Melodies. Calcutta.
Gupta, Samir Das (2000), Songs of Lalon. Sahitya Prakash, Dhaka.
Karim, Anwarul (2001), Rabindranath O Banglar Baul (in Bengali), Dhaka.
Openshaw, Jeanne (2002). Seeking Bauls of Bengal. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81125-5.
Baul, Parvathy (2005). Song of the Great Soul: An Introduction to the Baul Path. Ekatara Baul Sangeetha Kalari.
Capwell, Charles (2011), Sailing on the Sea of Love THE MUSIC OF THE BAULS OF BENGAL, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. ISBN 978-0-85742-004-6
Sen, Mimlu (2009), Baulsphere, Random House, ISBN 81-8400-055-3
Sen, Mimlu (2010), The Honey Gatherers, Rider Books, ISBN 978-1-84604-189-1
Knight, Lisa I. (2011). Contradictory Lives: Baul Women in India and Bangladesh. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-977354-1.
Mukherjee, Prithwindra (2014), Le Spontané: chants Caryâ et Bâul, Editions Almora, Paris.
References[edit]
Kuckertz, Josef (de) (1975), "Origin and Construction of the Melodies in Baul Songs of Bengal", Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council, 7: 85–91, doi:10.2307/767591, JSTOR 767591 .
Openshaw, J (2002), Seeking Bauls of Bengal, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-81125-2 .
Capwell, C (February 1974), "The Esoteric Belief of the Bauls of Bengal", Journal of Asian Studies, 33 (2): 255–264, doi:10.2307/2052187, JSTOR 2052187 .
Mukherjee, Prithwindra (2013), Tantôt dièse, tantôt bémol (trilingual anthology with 108 poems and songs by Rabindranath Tagore), Dhaka: Shahitya Prakash, ISBN 9782729121853
Datta, R (1978), "The Religious Aspect of the Baul Songs of Bengal", The Journal of Asian Studies, 37 (3): 445–455, doi:10.1017/s0021911800144031 .
Dimock, Edward C (November 1959), "Rabindranath Tagore--"The Greatest of the Bauls of Bengal"", The Journal of Asian Studies, 19 (1): 33–51, doi:10.2307/2943448, JSTOR 2943448 .
Openshaw, J (1997), "The Web of Deceit: Challenges to Hindu and Muslim 'Orthodoxies' by 'Bauls' of Bengal", Religion, 27 (4): 297–309, doi:10.1006/reli.1997.0093 .
Roy, BK (1977), Rabindranath Tagore: The Man and His Poetry, Folcroft Library Editions, ISBN 0-8414-7330-7 .
Dalrymple, W (7 February 2004), "The song of the holy fools", The Guardian, London, retrieved 5 December 2006 .
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baul.
Baul Archive Baularchive is dedicated to the memory of Professor Edward C. Dimock, Jr. who inspired generations of American and Bengali scholars with the poetry and philosophy of Baul songs. It is the culmination of Sally Grossman’s forty-plus year long interest in the Bauls and has been conceived, inspired, and generously supported by her with the advice and cooperation of Charles Capwell.
Sadhu Guru Boishnob Recordings - A record label dedicated to producing high quality field recordings of Baul-Fakir songs and music from Bengal.
Lalon Song's Archive Lalon Song's Archive
Parvathy Baul is a singer, painter and storyteller from West Bengal. Visit : www.parvathybaul.srijan.asia.
For The Sake Of The Song Reportage by Deborah Baker
PUNKCAST#522 Video of Babukishan Das and Dharma Bums performing in NYC, 16 Aug 2004. (RealPlayer)
Baul- The Folk Music of Bengal - Arghya Chatterjee: (Internet Archive)
Satyananda Das Baul
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Desertification
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Not to be confused with Decertification.
Global desertification vulnerability map
Lake Chad in a 2001 satellite image, with the actual lake in blue. The lake has shrunk by 94% since the 1960s.[1]
Desertification is a type of land degradation in which a relatively dry area of land becomes increasingly arid, typically losing its bodies of water as well as vegetation and wildlife .[2] It is caused by a variety of factors, such as through climate change (particularly the current global warming) and through the overexploitation of soil through human activity.[3] When deserts appear automatically over the natural course of a planet's life cycle, then it can be called a natural phenomenon; however, when deserts emerge due to the rampant and unchecked depletion of nutrients in soil that are essential for it to remain arable, then a virtual "soil death" can be spoken of,[4] which traces its cause back to human overexploitation. Desertification is a significant global ecological and environmental problem.[5]
Contents
[hide]
1 Definitions
2 History
3 Areas affected
4 Vegetation patterning
5 Causes
6 Poverty
7 Countermeasures and prevention
7.1 Managed grazing
8 See also
9 References
10 Bibliography
11 External links
Definitions[edit]
Considerable controversy exists over the proper definition of the term "desertification" for which Helmut Geist (2005) has identified more than 100 formal definitions. The most widely accepted[2] of these is that of the Princeton University Dictionary which defines it as "the process of fertile land transforming into desert typically as a result of deforestation, drought or improper/inappropriate agriculture".[6]
Desertification has been neatly defined in the text of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as "land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions resulting from various factors, including climatic variations and human activities."[7]
Another major contribution to the controversy comes from the sub-grouping of types of desertification. Spanning from the very vague yet shortsighted view as the "man-made-desert" to the more broad yet less focused type as the "Non-pattern-Desert"[8]
The earliest known discussion of the topic arose soon after the French colonization of West Africa, when the Comité d'Etudes commissioned a study on desséchement progressif to explore the prehistoric expansion of the Sahara Desert.[9]
History[edit]
The world's most noted deserts have been formed by natural processes interacting over long intervals of time. During most of these times, deserts have grown and shrunk independent of human activities. Paleodeserts are large sand seas now inactive because they are stabilized by vegetation, some extending beyond the present margins of core deserts, such as the Sahara, the largest hot desert.[10]
Desertification has played a significant role in human history, contributing to the collapse of several large empires, such as Carthage, Greece, and the Roman Empire, as well as causing displacement of local populations.[5][11][12][13][14] Historical evidence shows that the serious and extensive land deterioration occurring several centuries ago in arid regions had three epicenters: the Mediterranean, the Mesopotamian Valley, and the Loess Plateau of China, where population was dense.[11][15]
Areas affected[edit]
Sun, Moon, and large telescopes above the desert[16]
Drylands occupy approximately 40–41% of Earth’s land area[17][18] and are home to more than 2 billion people.[18] It has been estimated that some 10–20% of drylands are already degraded, the total area affected by desertification being between 6 and 12 million square kilometres, that about 1–6% of the inhabitants of drylands live in desertified areas, and that a billion people are under threat from further desertification.[19][20]
As of 1998, the then-current degree of southward expansion of the Sahara was not well known, due to a lack of recent, measurable expansion of the desert into the Sahel at the time.[21]
The impact of global warming and human activities are presented in the Sahel. In this area, the level of desertification is very high compared to other areas in the world. All areas situated in the eastern part of Africa (i.e. in the Sahel region) are characterized by a dry climate, hot temperatures, and low rainfall (300–750 mm rainfall per year). So, droughts are the rule in the Sahel region.[22] Some studies have shown that Africa has lost approximately 650,000 km² of its productive agricultural land over the past 50 years. The propagation of desertification in this area is considerable.[23]
Some statistics have shown that since 1900 the Sahara has expanded by 250 km to the south over a stretch of land from west to east 6,000 km long.[24][25][26] The survey, done by the research institute for development, had demonstrated that this means dryness is spreading fast in the Sahelian countries. 70% of the arid area has deteriorated and water resources have disappeared, leading to soil degradation. The loss of topsoil means that plants cannot take root firmly and can be uprooted by torrential water or strong winds.[23][27]
The United Nations Convention (UNC) says that about six million Sahelian citizens would have to give up the desertified zones of sub-Saharan Africa for North Africa and Europe between 1997 and 2020.[23][27]
Another major area that is being impacted by desertification is the Gobi Desert. Currently, the Gobi desert is the fastest moving desert on Earth; according to some researchers, the Gobi Desert swallows up over 1,300 square miles (3,370 km²) of land annually. This has destroyed many villages in its path. Currently, photos show that the Gobi Desert has expanded to the point the entire nation of Croatia could fit inside its area.[28] This is causing a major problem for the people of China. They will soon have to deal with the desert as it creeps closer. Although the Gobi Desert itself is still a distance away from Beijing, reports from field studies state there are large sand dunes forming only 70 km (43.5 mi) outside the city.[29]
Vegetation patterning[edit]
As the desertification takes place, the landscape may progress through different stages and continuously transform in appearance. On gradually sloped terrain, desertification can create increasingly larger empty spaces over a large strip of land, a phenomenon known as "Brousse tigrée". A mathematical model of this phenomenon proposed by C. Klausmeier attributes this patterning to dynamics in plant-water interaction.[30] One outcome of this observation suggests an optimal planting strategy for agriculture in arid environments.[31]
Causes[edit]
Preventing Man-made Overgrazing
Goats inside of a pen in Norte Chico, Chile. Overgrazing of drylands by poorly managed traditional herding is one of the primary causes of desertification.
Wildebeest in Masai Mara during the Great Migration. Overgrazing is not caused by nomadic grazers in huge populations of travel herds,[32][33] nor by holistic planned grazing.[34]
The immediate cause is the loss of most vegetation. This is driven by a number of factors, alone or in combination, such as drought, climatic shifts, tillage for agriculture, overgrazing and deforestation for fuel or construction materials. Vegetation plays a major role in determining the biological composition of the soil. Studies have shown that, in many environments, the rate of erosion and runoff decreases exponentially with increased vegetation cover.[35] Unprotected, dry soil surfaces blow away with the wind or are washed away by flash floods, leaving infertile lower soil layers that bake in the sun and become an unproductive hardpan. Controversially, Allan Savory has claimed that the controlled movement of herds of livestock, mimicking herds of grazing wildlife, can reverse desertification.[36][37][38][39][40]
A shepherd guiding his sheep through the high desert outside Marrakech, Morocco
Poverty[edit]
At least 90% of the inhabitants of drylands live in developing countries, where they also suffer from poor economic and social conditions.[19] This situation is exacerbated by land degradation because of the reduction in productivity, the precariousness of living conditions and the difficulty of access to resources and opportunities.[41]
A downward spiral is created in many underdeveloped countries by overgrazing, land exhaustion and overdrafting of groundwater in many of the marginally productive world regions due to overpopulation pressures to exploit marginal drylands for farming. Decision-makers are understandably averse to invest in arid zones with low potential. This absence of investment contributes to the marginalisation of these zones. When unfavourable agro-climatic conditions are combined with an absence of infrastructure and access to markets, as well as poorly adapted production techniques and an underfed and undereducated population, most such zones are excluded from development.[42]
Desertification often causes rural lands to become unable to support the same sized populations that previously lived there. This results in mass migrations out of rural areas and into urban areas, particularly in Africa. These migrations into the cities often cause large numbers of unemployed people, who end up living in slums.[43][44]
Agriculture is a main source of income for many desert communities. The increase in desertification in theses regions has degraded the land enough where people can no longer productively farm and make a profit. This has negatively impacted the economy and increased poverty rates.[45]
Countermeasures and prevention[edit]
Anti-sand shields in north Sahara, Tunisia
Jojoba plantations, such as those shown, have played a role in combating edge effects of desertification in the Thar Desert, India.[46]
Techniques and countermeasures exist for mitigating or reversing the effects of desertification, and some possess varying levels of difficulty. For some, there are numerous barriers to their implementation. Yet for others, the solution simply requires the exercise of human reason.
One less difficult solution that has been proposed,[47] however controversial it may be, is to bring about a cap on the population growth, and in fact to turn this into a population decay, so that each year there will gradually exist fewer and fewer humans who require the land to be depleted even further in order to grow their food.
One proposed barrier is that the costs of adopting sustainable agricultural practices sometimes exceed the benefits for individual farmers, even while they are socially and environmentally beneficial.[48] Another issue is a lack of political will, and lack of funding to support land reclamation and anti-desertification programs.[49]
Desertification is recognized as a major threat to biodiversity. Some countries have developed Biodiversity Action Plans to counter its effects, particularly in relation to the protection of endangered flora and fauna.[50][51]
Reforestation gets at one of the root causes of desertification and is not just a treatment of the symptoms. Environmental organizations[52] work in places where deforestation and desertification are contributing to extreme poverty. There they focus primarily on educating the local population about the dangers of deforestation and sometimes employ them to grow seedlings, which they transfer to severely deforested areas during the rainy season.[53] The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations launched the FAO Drylands Restoration Initiative in 2012 to draw together knowledge and experience on dryland restoration.[54] In 2015, FAO published global guidelines for the restoration of degraded forests and landscapes in drylands, in collaboration with the Turkish Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs and the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency.[55]
Currently, one of the major methods that has been finding success in this battle with desertification.[according to whom?] This is known as the Green Wall of China. This wall is a much larger scaled version of what American farmers did in the 1930s to stop the great Midwest dust bowl. This plan was proposed in the late 1970s, and has become a major ecological engineering project that is not predicted to end until the year 2055. According to Chinese reports, there have been nearly 66,000,000,000 trees planted in China's great green wall.[56] Due to the success that China has been finding in stopping the spread of desertification, plans are currently be made in Africa to start a "wall" along the borders of the Sahara desert as well.[citation needed]
Techniques focus on two aspects: provisioning of water, and fixation and hyper-fertilizing soil.
Fixating the soil is often done through the use of shelter belts, woodlots and windbreaks. Windbreaks are made from trees and bushes and are used to reduce soil erosion and evapotranspiration. They were widely encouraged by development agencies from the middle of the 1980s in the Sahel area of Africa.
Some soils (for example, clay), due to lack of water can become consolidated rather than porous (as in the case of sandy soils). Some techniques as zaï or tillage are then used to still allow the planting of crops.[57]
Another technique that is useful is contour trenching. This involves the digging of 150 m long, 1 m deep trenches in the soil. The trenches are made parallel to the height lines of the landscape, preventing the water from flowing within the trenches and causing erosion. Stone walls are placed around the trenches to prevent the trenches from closing up again. The method was invented by Peter Westerveld.[58]
Enriching of the soil and restoration of its fertility is often done by plants. Of these, leguminous plants which extract nitrogen from the air and fix it in the soil, and food crops/trees as grains, barley, beans and dates are the most important. Sand fences can also be used to control drifting of soil and sand erosion.[59]
Some research centra (such as Bel-Air Research Center IRD/ISRA/UCAD) are also experimenting with the inoculation of tree species with mycorrhiza in arid zones. The mycorrhiza are basically fungi attaching themselves to the roots of the plants. They hereby create a symbiotic relation with the trees, increasing the surface area of the tree's roots greatly (allowing the tree to gather much more nutrients from the soil).[60]
As there are many different types of deserts, there are also different types of desert reclamation methodologies. An example for this is the salt-flats in the Rub' al Khali desert in Saudi-Arabia. These salt-flats are one of the most promising desert areas for seawater agriculture and could be revitalized without the use of freshwater or much energy.[61]
Farmer-managed natural regeneration (FMNR) is another technique that has produced successful results for desert reclamation. Since 1980, this method to reforest degraded landscape has been applied with some success in Niger. This simple and low-cost method has enabled farmers to regenerate some 30,000 square kilometers in Niger. The process involves enabling native sprouting tree growth through selective pruning of shrub shoots. The residue from pruned trees can be used to provide mulching for fields thus increasing soil water retention and reducing evaporation. Additionally, properly spaced and pruned trees can increase crop yields. The Humbo Assisted Regeneration Project which uses FMNR techniques in Ethiopia has received money from The World Bank’s BioCarbon Fund, which supports projects that sequester or conserve carbon in forests or agricultural ecosystems.[62]
It is argued that managed grazing methods are able to restore grasslands.[63]
Managed grazing[edit]
Restoring grasslands store CO2 from the air into plant material. Grazing livestock, usually not left to wander, would eat the grass and would minimize any grass growth while grass left alone would eventually grow to cover its own growing buds, preventing them from photosynthesizing and killing the plant.[64] A method proposed to restore grasslands uses fences with many small paddocks and moving herds from one paddock to another after a day or two in order to mimic natural grazers and allowing the grass to grow optimally.[64][65][66] It is estimated that increasing the carbon content of the soils in the world’s 3.5 billion hectares of agricultural grassland would offset nearly 12 years of CO2 emissions.[64] Allan Savory, as part of holistic management, claims that while large herds are often blamed for desertification, prehistoric lands used to support large or larger herds and areas where herds were removed in the United States are still desertifying.[63]
See also[edit]
Wind erosion outside Leuchars
Aridification
Deforestation
Soil retrogression and degradation
Water crisis
Mitigation:
Desert greening
Ecological engineering
Oasification
Environment portal
Ecology portal
Earth sciences portal
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Global warming portal
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Bibliography[edit]
Arnalds, Ólafur; Archer, Steve (2000). Rangeland Desertification. Springer. ISBN 978-0-7923-6071-1.
Barbault R., Cornet A., Jouzel J., Mégie G., Sachs I., Weber J. (2002). Johannesburg. World Summit on Sustainable Development. 2002. What is at stake? The contribution of scientists to the debate. Ministère des Affaires étrangères/adpf.
Bauer, Steffan (2007). "Desertification". In Thai, Khi V. et al. Handbook of globalization and the environment. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-57444-553-4. CS1 maint: Uses editors parameter (link)
Batterbury, S.P.J. & A.Warren (2001) Desertification. in N. Smelser & P. Baltes (eds.) International Encyclopædia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Elsevier Press. pp. 3526–3529
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Hartman, Ingrid (2008). "Desertification". In Philander, S. George. Encyclopedia of global warming and climate change, Volume 1. SAGE. ISBN 978-1-4129-5878-3. CS1 maint: Uses authors parameter (link)
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Holtz, Uwe (2007). Implementing the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification from a parliamentary point of view – Critical assessment and challenges ahead. Online at [2]
Holtz, Uwe (2013). Role of parliamentarians in the implementation process of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. A guide to Parliamentary Action, ed. Secretariat of the UNCCD, Bonn ISBN 978-92-95043-69-5. Online at [3]
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The End of Eden a 90-minute documentary by South African filmmaker Rick Lomba in 1984 on African desertification
Attribution
This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document "http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/desertification/".
External links[edit]
Beyerlin, Ulrich. Desertification, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law
Bell, Trudy; Phillips, Tony (December 6, 2002). "City-swallowing Sand Dunes". NASA. Archived from the original on June 19, 2006. Retrieved 2006-04-28.
Desert Research Institute in Nevada, United States
Environmental Issues – Desertification in Africa, The Environmental Blog
Eden Foundation article on desertification
FAO Information Portal – Properties and Management of Drylands
UNEP (2006): Global Deserts Outlook
UNEP Programme on Success Stories in Land Degradation/ Desertification Control
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification – Secretariat
Procedural history and related documents on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Dersertification, Particularly in Africa in the Historic Archives of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
A guide for desert and dryland restoration by David A. Bainbridge
French Scientific Committee on Desertification (CSFD)
Olive Trees May Be The Answer To Desertification
The End of Eden on Youtube
News
Fighting Desertification Through Conservation Report on a project to stop the advance of the Sahara in Algeria – IPS, 27 February 2007
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values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

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interlanguage-link interwiki-az
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-min-nan
display: none;

values: Апустыньванне – Belarusian

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interlanguage-link interwiki-be
display: none;

values: Опустиняване – Bulgarian

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interlanguage-link interwiki-bg
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-bs
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-ca
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-da
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-de
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-et
display: none;

values: Ερημοποίηση – Greek

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interlanguage-link interwiki-el
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-eo
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-eu
display: none;

values: بیابانی شدن – Persian

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interlanguage-link interwiki-fa
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-ga
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-gl
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-ko
display: none;

values: Անապատացում – Armenian

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interlanguage-link interwiki-hy
display: none;

values: मरुस्थलीकरण – Hindi

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interlanguage-link interwiki-hr
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-is
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-it
display: none;

values: מדבור – Hebrew

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interlanguage-link interwiki-he
display: none;

values: Шөлдену, шөлге айналу – Kazakh

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interlanguage-link interwiki-kk
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-sw
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-ht
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-la
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-lv
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-lt
display: none;

values: മരുഭൂമീകരണം – Malayalam

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interlanguage-link interwiki-mn
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-ja
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-no
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-nn
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-oc
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-uz
display: none;

values: ਮਾਰੂਥਲੀਕਰਨ – Punjabi

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interlanguage-link interwiki-ro
display: none;

values: Опустынивание – Russian

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interlanguage-link interwiki-sco
display: none;

values: කාන්තාරීකරණය – Sinhala

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-si
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-simple
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sk
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sl
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sh
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-fi
display: none;

values:
interlanguage-link interwiki-sv
display: none;

values: பாலைவனமாதல் – Tamil

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interlanguage-link interwiki-ta
display: none;

values: ఎడారీకరణ – Telugu

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interlanguage-link interwiki-te
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-tr
display: none;

values: Опустелювання – Ukrainian

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interlanguage-link interwiki-uk
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-vi
display: none;

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interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue
display: none;

values: /static/images/wikimedia-button-1.5x.png 1.5x, /static/images/wikimedia-button-2x.png 2x

values: /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_132x47.png 1.5x, /static/images/poweredby_mediawiki_176x62.png 2x

values:
suggestions
display: none; font-size: 13px;

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-Desertification rootpage-Desertification skin-vector action-view