Parvathy Baul

Parvathy Baul was born in 1975 or 1976 Though she received her early music training in Hindustani classical music, it was on a train to Santiniketan campus, that she first heard a blind Baul singer, performing the traditional music of mystic minstrels from Bengal. This was followed by meeting Phulmala Dashi, a woman Baul singer who frequented the campus. Soon, she started learning music from Phulmala and also visited several Baul ashrams, later Phulamala advised her to find another teacher. During this period, she watched a performance by Sanatan Das Baul, an 80-year-old Baul singer from the Bankura in West Bengal. Deciding to learn from him, she visited his ashram in Sonamukhi in Bankura district. After 15 days, she received her diksha initiation from him, and he became her first guru. For the next seven years, she travelled with her guru, providing vocal support during performances, learning Baul songs, Baul dance, and playing ektara and duggi, a small kettle-drum strapped to the waist. Finally, he allowed her to sing on her own and soon she was led to her next guru Shashanko Goshai Baul. Goshai, who was 97-year-old at the time and lived in Khoirboni, a small village in the Bankura district. He was initially hesitant to take on a female disciple, thus tested her dedication for a few days, before taking her on. In the remaining three years of his life, he taught her numerous songs, and intricacies of the Baul tradition. ==Career==

Though she started performing in 1995, in 1997 she came to Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, to learn about local spiritual and theatre traditions. Here she met Ravi Gopalan Nair, an Andi Pandaram – a traditional puppeteer from Kerala, who also makes glove puppets or Pava Kathakali. Prior to this they worked with the theatre company for five months during Seven Basic Needs exhibition and performances at Expo 2000 in Hanover, Germany, In late 1990s, she married her teacher Ravi Gopalan Nair, and has been living in Thiruvananthapuram for the last 15 years. She also runs an "Ektara Baul Sangeetha Kalari", a Baul music gurukul (school) at Nedumangad near Thiruvananthapuram. Once a year, she also travels to teach Baul music at the International School of Theatre Anthropology (ISTA). Tantidhatri festivals have been held in Pondicherry and Auroville (2012), Bangalore (2016) and Kolkata (2019). In 2005, she published Songs of the Great Soul, a book about her journey into the Baul tradition, provides a rare insight into an educated woman's foray into the tradition, which has been male preserve and mostly flourished in rural areas, where women were often caregivers and companions to Bauls at ashrams, few took to singing and the itinerant lifestyle. In February 2019, she was conferred Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, by Government of India for her contribution to the ancient Baul tradition. She is now creating a dedicated learning center for Baul tradition in Bengal. Over the years, she performed at various concerts all over India and other countries, including at Ruhaniyat – The All India Sufi & Mystic Music Festival and One Billion Rising. == Supporting the Baul Tradition ==

In 2017, Parvathy Baul founded Sanatan Siddhashram in Bhirbum, West Bengal, a center aiming to foster the Baul tradition. ==Works==

• Neeravam (2021) • The Bengal Files (2025) == References ==