Thesiss

A radically alternative vision of the fakir is given in surviving medieval (Bng. madhya-y˙ug, “Middle Age”) and pre-modern textual sources that predate and coincide with the colonial period in Bengal, such as the widely influential 17th century Yoga Kalandar text as well as Bāul…

In the popular imagination of Bengalis and visitors in West Bengal (India) and Bangladesh, Bauls are generally depicted as a sect of musical mendicants clad in ochre-colored clothes, with flowing hair and an instrument in their hands. Their popularity stems from their mystical s…