Bhatiali is the folk music of:

Bhatiali is a folk song form of Bengal, sung by boatmen (majhis) on the rivers. It is found in West Bengal and especially in Bangladesh, whose landscape is covered with large rivers such as the Padma, Meghna and Jamuna. The name is linked to "bhata", meaning ebb tide or flowing downstream. Boatmen sang these songs while their boats drifted down the river with the current, when they did not need to row hard.

Features of Bhatiali:

• The songs are slow, with long, stretched notes that seem to float over the water.
• They express loneliness, longing for home and loved ones, and a deep spiritual feeling about life and death, often comparing life to a boat on a river.
• They are often sung solo, and sometimes accompanied by the dotara or the flute.

Many Bhatiali songs also have a mystical meaning, influenced by the Baul and Sufi traditions. The river and the boat are used as symbols of the soul's journey towards God.

Famous singers associated with Bhatiali include Abbasuddin Ahmed and Nirmalendu Chowdhury. Composers such as S. D. Burman, who grew up in Tripura and East Bengal, used Bhatiali tunes in Hindi film songs.

Other folk forms of Bengal:

• Baul: songs of wandering mystic minstrels.
• Bhawaiya: folk songs of North Bengal.
• Gambhira: songs of Malda.
• Kirtan: devotional songs of the Vaishnavas, made popular by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Why not the other options?

• ✗Kerala has boat songs too, called vanchipattu, but they are not Bhatiali.
• ✗Punjab is known for Heer and Tappa.
• ✗Gujarat is known for Garba and Dayro.