Srijoni Tania takes ‘Charyapada’ on Europe tour

Sadhika Srijoni Tania, accompanied by researcher–performer Simon Zakaria, has carried the haunting resonance of ancient Bengali "Charyapada" across Europe throughout August, reviving a thousand-year-old tradition in new cultural landscapes. From university lecture halls to radio waves and open-air stages, the pair transformed what is often treated as brittle manuscript material into a living, breathing performance.

The journey began in Győr, Hungary, where Tania joined the 5th Middle Bengali Reading Retreat-cum-Workshop at Széchenyi István University. Scholars from 11 countries dissected the language of "Charyapada", while Tania's stripped-down renditions—anchored by ektara, baya and the shimmer of ghungroo—restored the poetry's original cadence. These were not decorative interludes, but acts of reclamation: philological inquiry meeting musical intuition.

Austria came next. In Linz, Tania's voice carried through the airwaves on Radio FRO, stitching early Bengali mysticism into the city's contemporary soundscape. Listeners heard how pitch, ornament, and rhythm unlock meanings no page can hold. The recording, still available in the station's mediatheque, extends that moment of intimacy far beyond Linz.

Germany offered perhaps the tour's most deliberate experiment. NETZ Bangladesh hosted "Bengalische Soirée" in Giessen, and the duo staged a "revival evening" split into two parts—first, the "Charyapada" in its stark, devotional form. Then, a weaving of baul and sufi strands, showing the medieval tradition's living echoes in today's folk music. For many in the audience, it was less a concert than a map of continuity—ancient verse pulsing in present-day voices.

In Prague, the encounter turned small and scholarly. Over conversations with Czech-Bangla researchers, Tania sang in an almost workshop setting, breaking down interpretive choices and turning music into dialogue. The tour concluded in Paris on August 27 with "Charyapada Revival: À la découverte de chants mystiques du Bengale", organised by France Kriti. The event carried special resonance, marking 100 years since linguist Dr Muhammad Shahidullah first researched Charyapada in Paris in 1925.

Tania's approach remained steadfast throughout: minimal production, focus on the text, and simple instruments—a single-string drone and ankle bells—demonstrating that "Charyapada" thrives on honesty, not spectacle. While Tania carried the sound, Simon Zakaria provided context, explaining each verse's historical, social, and spiritual significance, bridging centuries-old Bengali texts to modern audiences.

What the tour made plain is this: archives gather dust until someone risks bringing them into the present. By shifting the "Charyapada" from fragile folios to the stages of Europe, Tania and Zakaria challenged the divide between preservation and reinvention. Their work insists that the songs of a millennium ago still belong in the global ear today.

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