Bhatiyali

Bishnupada Sarkar

Call: 8159845715

A grandson of legendary Kabiyal (poet) and flute player Banshiram Sarkar, Bishnupada is an ‘incubator-promoter’ of the Bhatiyali music form. A celebrated singer located at Sunderbans, also renowned for his skills in playing musical instruments, he has several songs to his credit as a lyricist too. Bishnupada teaches young artists as well and is fondly called ‘Master’ by his pupils.

Prabir Mandal

Call: 9733807362

Prabir was a percussionist and he switched to Bhatiyali 30 years back. He was a student of Tridhara Cultural Unit and learnt songs under the tutelage of Palash Mandal, Chittapriya Mridha and Bishnupada Sarkar. He has performed in Barasat, Sonarpur, Nadia and Birbhum. He has performed at youth festivals in West Bengal

Atiyar Rehman

Call: 9093779331

An ardent follower of legendary Bhatiyali singers Abbasuddin Ahmed and Abdul Hamid, Atiyar Rehman is deeply passionate about Bhatiyali. Though this veteran artist is engaged as an agricultural labour, he has been practising and performing Bhawaiya and Bhatiyali regularly for long. Due to lack of exposure and opportunities he has not got recognition that he deserves. However, in spite of his age his spirit for singing is undaunted still today. He lives in Hingalganj in North 24 Parganas.

Rafikul Islam Gazi

Call: 9775211605

He has made a mark for himself in Bhatiyali folk music despite his modest economic background. He  started his career as a singer at the age of ten. He learnt Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul Geeti from eminent singer Dhiren Mitra. He is currently a student of Gour Sundar Gayen who is a noted Bhatiyali singer. He teaches Bhatiyali in Hingalganj. He has performed in many districts like Medinipur, Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, Hooghly, Murshidabad and cities like Kolkata, Ranchi etc. He has performed in Bangladesh as well. Apart from Bhatiyali, he also sings Jhumur and Bhawaiya. He has won an award from Paschim Banga Lok Parishad in 2016. 

Shibpada Mandal

Call: 9732447837

A resident of Hingalganj Shibpada is singing Bhatiyali for the last 15 years. He was student of Tridhara Cultural Unit and learnt songs under the guidance of Palash Mandal and Chittapriyo Mridha. Apart from Bhatiyali he sings Nazrulgeeti. He has performed in Kolkata, Barasat and Sonarpur. He has won block level award in between 1995 and 2000.

Sourav Mandal

Call: 9830710713

He is one of the most prolific young folk singers of India today. Saurav specializes in folk songs originating in Bengal’s Sunderbans delta region and has imbibed the art of rustic rendition since his childhood — in the company of fishermen, travelling boatmen, myriad folk singers, and the wandering Bauls and Fakirs. Born in the remote village of Hingalganj in the Sunderbans, near the Bangladesh border, Saurav came to Kolkata to pursue higher education, only to realize that his call was to preserve and spread folk music at its authentic best. Since then, he is working on vocal archiving, research on rare folk music genres, and conserving moribund village hymns (pallygeeti) and transcendental verses. Saurav has performed across India, Europe and UK and also played at Coke Studio and Folk Nations. His solo album ‘Nouka Kholo’ is a very popular one.