Singing to the Trees

Bāul(s) Recasting BarṣāMaṅgal amid Climatic Dissonance

Abstract

BarṣāMaṅgal, the traditional festival celebrating the monsoon, has long been entrenched in the cultural and agrarian life of Bengal, representing the deep interdependence between seasonal cycles and human existence. This paper explores the multifaceted significance of the monsoon, encompassing its historical,religious, literary, socio-cultural, and ecological dimensions, within South Asian thought and practices. Central to this inquiry is the Bāultradition, a mystic-heretic folk tradition from Bengal, whose philosophy venerates prakṛti (nature/ female self) as sacred and inseparable from the ‘self’. For the Bāul(s),the monsoon is not merely a meteorological event but a metaphysical metaphor that animates their deha-tattva (bodyphilosophy) and spiritual worldview.Against the backdrop of contemporary ‘ecoprecarity’ and escalating climatic dissonance, they are recasting BarṣāMaṅgal as a site of vernacular environmentalism and resistance, transforming it into a platform for ecological engagement through innovative ritualistic interventions, i.e., singing to trees, leading plantation drives, and organizing day-long events that promote coexistence and harmony with all living and non-living beings. Through an interdisciplinary methodology that integrates textual analysis, ethnographic observation, and ecocriticaldiscourses, this study critically examines how the Bāul’scosmo-poetic engagements with rain and rhythm foster a grassroots environmental imaginary, where the festival becomes both an archive of indigenous eco-wisdom and a performative protest against planetary collapse.