Baul, Vaishnav festival in East London

Performance of Baul and Vaishnav music, developed centueis in the subcontinent centuries ago, mesmerised the audience around East London last week.

Organisers said the audience, predominantly non-Asian Westerners, sang with the praise of the musical ecstasy that the music created in two prominent venues - Poplar Union at Poplar and Rich Mix at Bethnal Green.

Authentic Bengali folk instruments such as Mandira and Dhol were used alongside with violin and Tabla at Poplar Union presentation on Saturday.

Those who performed include Baul Hashi Rani, Baul Abdul Shahid, classically trained singer Satarupa Ghosh, Sazzad Miah and folk dancer Sohel Ahmed.

Will Roper, programme co-coordinator of Poplar Union, said, this is one of the best and highly engaging performance he had hosted so far from South Asia.

 The festival, organised by RadhaRaman Society, then moved to Rich Mix on Sunday. Curator Ahmed Kaysher introduced the philosophy of Baul and Vaishnavism there.