Swapna Chakraborty

Music of Bengal refers to the diverse body of religious and secular song traditions from the Bengali-speaking region (today split between Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal). Written and sung in the Bengali language, it encompasses folk idioms, devotional repertoires, art-song, and modern popular styles. Across nearly a millennium, Bengali music has drawn on Hindustani classical ragas and talas while sustaining distinctive local song genres such as Baul, Bhatiali (boatmen’s songs), Bhawaiya (pastoral songs), Shyama Sangeet (Shakta devotional songs), and later modern forms like Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul Geeti. Lyrical themes range from mysticism and devotion to nature, love, and social life, expressed through memorable melodic lines and supple rhythms.