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'Lalon Fakir' is associated with which music tradition?
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Answer: Option C — Baul music
Detailed Solution
Lalon Fakir (also called Lalon Shah or Fakir Lalon Shah, about 1774-1890) was the most famous saint, poet and composer of the Baul tradition of Bengal. He lived at Chheuriya, near Kushtia in present-day Bangladesh, where his shrine (akhra) still stands. Every year, a festival held there on his death anniversary in October draws thousands of Bauls and devotees.
Lalon composed many hundreds of songs (estimates range from several hundred to more than a thousand). His songs question caste, religious divisions and rituals, and say that God (the "Moner Manush", the person of the heart) lives within every human being. A famous line asks: "Everyone asks what is Lalon's caste in this world." He rejected the idea that people should be divided by religion or caste. His philosophy influenced Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Allen Ginsberg, among others.
The Bauls are wandering mystic minstrels of Bengal (West Bengal and Bangladesh). Their key features:
They draw on Vaishnava Hinduism, Sufi Islam and Tantric Buddhist ideas.
They sing about the divine within the human body and reject formal religion.
They wear saffron or patchwork robes and play the ektara (one-stringed instrument), dotara, khamak and dubki.
In 2005, UNESCO proclaimed the Baul songs a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity; they are now on its Representative List.
The Joydev Kenduli Mela in Birbhum and the Poush Mela at Santiniketan are famous gatherings of Bauls in West Bengal. Purna Das Baul is a well-known modern Baul singer.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Bhatiali is the folk song of Bengal's boatmen.
- ✗Rabindra Sangeet is the songs of Rabindranath Tagore.
- ✗Qawwali is the devotional music of the Sufi shrines of North India.
Quick tip
Remember: Lalon Fakir = greatest Baul saint-poet, Chheuriya (Kushtia, Bangladesh); Baul = UNESCO intangible heritage, ektara; Purna Das Baul = modern singer.
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Music & Musical Instruments — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of Music & Musical Instruments, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers Indian classical music, its two main traditions (Hindustani and Carnatic), gharanas, ragas and talas, folk music styles, and the musical instruments of India along with the artists who are famous for playing them. It also includes the four classes of instruments: string (tata), wind (sushira), percussion (avanaddha) and solid (ghana). Exam questions usually pair an instrument with its maestro, such as the sitar with Pandit Ravi Shankar, the shehnai with Ustad Bismillah Khan or the santoor with Pandit Shivkumar Sharma. Other common questions ask about the origin of a gharana, the instrument a folk style uses, or the class an instrument belongs to. Making a two-column list of instruments and artists is the quickest way to revise. Practise the music and musical instruments questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.