Love Songs of Chandidas

<p><a>First published in 1967 <i>Love Songs of Chandid</i></a><i>ās </i>provides an informative introduction which makes vividly clear the importance of Chandidās to the Indian peasant masses. As the author tells us the traveller through the Birbhum area of Bengal hears Chandidās everywhere in the villages in the fields on the roads. Night after night the people gather in the temple courtyards or on the village greens to listen to professional ‘Kirtan’ singers sing his songs of the divine love of Radha and Krishna. The influence of Chandidās on contemporary Bengali literature is equally important his songs having enriched the work of great poets such as Rabindranath Tagore Govindadas and many others. The author also discusses the interesting topic of the Sahaja (‘spontaneity’) movement in Indian faith and literature as manifested in the songs of Chandidās and the worship of love-making divine and human as an important aspect of this faith. This book will be of interest to students of literature music history cultural studies and South Asian studies.</p>