Lalon Fellow talks on the cult

Abdur Razzak

Prior to this fellowship, Razzak had learnt rites and music of the cult from Lalon song exponents such as Fakir Khodabaksha Shah, Fakir Motalib Ali Shah and Mohendra Goswami. And he is in the process of taking Khelafat (highest rank of divine knowledge; according to the belief of the cult after gaining Khelafat one is prepared to absorb the Creator in the soul) from his spiritual mentor Fakir Nizamuddin Shah, the current Khadem (caretaker) of Lalon's shrine.

Razzak said, "I've completed Lalon Mentor Fellowship; however, I'm still in the learning process. I have yet to gain Khelafat. Only after attaining Khelafat can one claim to be a true devotee of Fakir Lalon Shah. In his verses, Lalon has pledged his followers to have a better understanding of 'death' and thereby to taste divine love. That's why after gaining Khelafat one is supposed to give up all earthly matters and take white clothing like Kafon (burial cloth).

Razzak asserted that Lalon songs are elegiac in tone, reflecting the pain of deprivation or longing. This happens as Lalon followers are inspired by the idea that the human body is the seat of all truth and to reach that level, they are always in search of a guru or moner manush. To quote him, “Every song may be interpreted in two ways: in terms of human as well as divine love.”

Although Lalon songs come mainly from the region of Kushtia, singers from other regions bring in different influences particularly in tunes and style. At times even the words vary. Explaining this phenomenon, Abdur Razzak said, "It's an ongoing problem. To realise it, we have to know the facts. Fakir Lalon's Kalams (verses) were written by Fakir Maniruddin Shah and were composed by Fakir Manik Shah. The duo were direct disciples of Lalon. At that stage Kalams were considered simply as the doctrines of Ohedaniat (a belief which glorifies humanism). Subsequently, Fakir Maniruddin Shah, and his disciple, Khoda Baksh, attempted to put these Kalams into a particular frame of music. Khoda Baksh's disciple, Amulya Shah, was a reputed musicologist who set Baul songs, especially Lalon songs, to music. These songs were developed by his disciples. This can be labelled as akhra gharana (authentic tune).

"We, who learn Lalon's verses as rituals from our gurus, don't necessarily learn classical music. And this is the authentic style of Lalon music. This tradition has been distorted in two ways: first are the classical music-based singers who render Lalon songs as a genre of folk music on radio and TV and secondly is the poor handling by pseudo Bauls."

Amplifying on the modification of lyrics, Razzak said, "It was also carried out in two ways: Firstly, some have intentionally distorted Kalams to label Lalon either as a Muslim or a Hindu, however, Lalon did not disclose his religious background even to his close associates. Rather, in many Kalams he took a stance against any form of religion except humanism. Moreover, a few of the pseudo Bauls sold verses composed by other Bauls claiming to be Lalon's. Secondly, because of typo errors, it's extremely difficult to print the local dialect of Kushtia. And whoever learns the lyrics from any books invariably distorts words.

Abdur Razzak said, to avoid controversies regarding distortion of Lalon songs, songs rendered by the seasoned Fakirs should be preserved without further delay.