ROOTS – Bhatiali
Bhatiali folk song has been made popular by boatsmen from Bangladesh. They were the first people to actually start singing this in the Mymensingh district along the Brahmaputra River or the Bhati (lower region of a river) area. At one time, there were total five types of bhatiali in Bangladesh but some of these forms are extinct at present.
In a literal sense, the term Bhatiali signifies the specific type of folk music sung by the boatsman during his journey across down streams of the Riverine districts of Bengal. The lyrics for these kinds of songs generally concern boating, rivers and fishing.
