Bangladeshi folk artiste performs at South Asia Institute of Chicago

Sadhika Srijoni Tania is a practitioner of Baul-folk music. She is well known for performing various traditional Baul songs of South Asia. From an early age, she was involved in Baul spirituality and music due to her family.

Over the years, she has performed at numerous local, national, and international events, many of which have been organised by the Government of Bangladesh, the Bangla Academy of Dhaka, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and several Bangladeshi universities.

On April 8, Srijoni performed Charyapada songs at the South Asia Institute of Chicago. The programme was designed to be an afternoon of traditional Baul song performances and a revival of Charyapada ancient Bengali Buddhist mystical songs. It marked a moment that shows just how far music from this side of the subcontinent can transcend past thousands of kilometres and numerous cultures.

Aside from the programme, Srijoni also taught Charyapada to the teachers and students of the music department of the University of Chicago on April 10. Those students would then go on to perform these songs at the spring concert of the university on 23 April.

The artitste would also perform some Charyapada for the students of the Bangla Department of the University of Chicago on April 14, the day that marks the start of the Bangla new year.