Fakir Lalon Shah
Falir Lalon Shah
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Fakir Lalon Shah’s (1774-1890) songs are unique for their humanistic
message. Hundred and sixteen years after the death of Lalon, we are yet
to preserve all of Lalon’s songs.
Fakir Lalon Shah
Fakir Lalon Shah
Fakir Anwar Hossain, known as Mantu Shah amongst the Lalon devotees,
has preserved authentic lyrics of Fakir Lalon Shah in his book titled Lalon
Sangeet . He is using the manuscripts of Fakir Maniruddin Shah, a direct
disciple of Fakir Lalon Shah. Maniruddin Shah was authorised by Lalon to
note down the verses, for the documentation.
So far, only a few of Fakir Lalon Shah’s verses have been documented by
well-known names such as Kangal Harinath, Rabindranath Tagore and
Mohammad Monsuruddin. Along the way there has been much deliberate
and accidental distortion of Lalon’s verses.
Professor Dr. Abul Ahsan Choudhury, a Lalon expert said, “Most of Fakir
Maniruddin Shah’s manuscripts are now untraceable. It is an appreciable
effort by Mantu Shah, who under the guidance of seasoned Fakirs and
Lalon singers is documenting the authentic lyrics of Lalon. He has so far
presented over 800 songs, which is the largest documentation of Lalon
songs in the country”
In fact Mantu Shah has been doing the documentation since 1960. To
quote him, “My guru Fakir Kokil Shah instructed me to preserve all of the
verses. Since then I’ve travelled the areas both in Bangladesh and India
where the Lalon devotees live in search of Fakir Maniruddin Shah’s
manuscripts. So far I’ve found 20 manuscripts in the personal collection
of the Fakirs as well as scholars and common people.”
And Mantu Shah had to struggle a great deal in his endeavour to preserve
this priceless heritage. The main problem was that many refused to part
with the manuscripts. In addition, many manuscripts have been lost
forever. Mantu Shah said, “I’ve published the verses that I could collect.
And during documentation I took the help of a panel of Fakirs and Lalon
singers such as Fakir Abdul Gani Shah (Bader Shah), Fakir Durlav Shah,
Fakir Abdul Karim Shah and Fakir Bazlur Rahman Shah.”
Mantu Shah stressed the need for the government to collect and preserve
the manuscripts of Fakir Maniruddin Shah from personal collections. He
also called for the publication of Lalon verses to avoid controversy about
their authenticity.
