Today is the 134th anniversary of the death of legendary mystic bard Fakir Lalon Shah.
Marking the day, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy is scheduled to organise a three-day event on its premises in Dhaka, which will begin today, said a BSA press release.
Adopted by a weaver couple, Malam Shah and his wife Matijan, at Chheuriya in Kushtia, Lalon Shah鈥檚 songs have attracted widespread attention for their mystical approach to humanism as well as their melodious tunes.
The bard started to compose and perform his songs inspired by Siraj Sain, a Sufi of that village.
Subsequently, he learnt about nature, the human body and traditional philosophies from other gurus and expressed those in his songs in an uncomplicated language, which is rich with metaphors and multiple meanings.
In many of his verses on 鈥榙ehatatwa鈥�, anatomy of human body, the mystic bard has implicitly given his followers guidelines on how to go beyond the physical existence to the metaphysical.
He left no written copies of his songs, which were transmitted orally and only later transcribed by his followers.
Very few of his songs are found in a written form as most of his followers could not read or write either.
Rabindranath Tagore published some of the songs in the monthly Prabasi magazine in Kolkata.
According to experts, Lalon composed less than two thousand songs. Many rural bauls, however, claim that the number would be over 10,000.
Lalon Shah passed away on the first day of the Bangla month of Kartik in 1297.
