Department of Folklore, University of Kalyani, Nadia, West Bengal,

  

In pursuance of the policy perspective of emerging education, Kalyani University has taken effective measures by the establishing a full-fledged Folklore Department as a challenging event to the traditional system of education in terms of inter-disciplinary course content and potential possibilities between classroom and society at large..

The desire of the University Grants Commission for the promotion of folklore studies in the universities was expressed first in the Commission's circular of 1982 and the efforts of Kalyani University to realise this desire are note worthy. The orchestrated efforts of Kalyani University initiated since the early 70s to set up a full-fledged Department of Folklore including study and research of folklore as a subject major at the University level bear testimony to the earnestness and passion on the part of this University to save, salvage and preserve the great folk tradition of this sub-continent from obscurity and oblivion. The UGC visiting committee during Fifth Plan period, in view of the location, wide potentiality of study and research on folklore and the expertise readily available in the University of Kalyani, noted the feasibility of creation of a new Department of Folklore in this University and granted resources in terms of money and personnel for Folklore specialisation in the Sixth Plan recommendation. During Seventh plan period under the leadership of Professor Kalyan Kr. Dasgupta, the then Vice-Chancellor of the University, the Department of Folklore took final shape in the year 1990.

The Department of Folklore started formal and regular functioning since January 15, 1990 with limited resources but holding out great promise. The desired objective of the Department is so generate interest and enthusiasm in the traditional culture in an international perspective in general and Pan-Indian context in particular. The Department propagates the study of folkloristics through comparative and cross-cultural methodology with text and contextual understanding and consequently exploring the idea of unity in diversity in Indian situation as well as promoting deep understanding at global level. We feel that our moral duty is to explore the study of folklore in a scientific manner with strong academic discipline of its own so that the ephemeral interest or unwanted amateurism and cheap commercialism may not jeoperdise the cause of study folklore in the long run.

“The PG courses on folklore studies is a unique course by the University”-----From the NAAC Report, 2002

Head of the Department :
Dr. Sujay Kumar Mandal

Departmental Phone No.:
(033) 2582 8750 Ext. 271 (Head of the Department)
Ext 272 (Office)
Ext 348(Teachers' Room)

Departmental E-mail Address:
folklore.ku@gmail.com

Degree and Course Offered:

• M.A. in 'Folkloristics'' - a two year post-graduate degree
• Ph. D. & D.Lit.

Intake Capacity:

100 Students

Academic Programme :

The Department initiated Post-Graduate Courses in Folkloristics with full twenty papers,

covering 1000 marks

which include

field work, seminar paper and dissertation

. We have already started

Doctoral and Post-Doctoral programmes in Folklore.

The Department of Folklore with its interdisciplinary course content desires to fulfill three-dimensional works of

teaching, research and documentation.

.

Teaching :

The Department of Folklore offers Post graduate teaching .The students functioning with 10 students in the year 1990, now the intake has been 100. Every year we approximately receive 300 applications, out of his 100 students are selected strictly according to merit. In this region in general and West Bengal in particular, the M.A. module aims at giving a sound theoretical and practical grounding in the relevant academic fields. The scope is progressively widened, first to the all India horizon and then to the global perspective in the modern context.

Research and Research-Oriented Programmes :

1. [a] Ph.D. Research : 
   The Department encourages and promotes research by individual scholars working for the doctoral degree on topics having bearing on the academic areas covered by the teaching. Since the inception of the Department already more than 55 scholars awarded Ph.D. degree for their research work. More than 25 Ph.D. projects are also in progress. Interdisciplinary research projects are entertained whenever and wherever possible.
   [b] Post doctoral Degree (D.Litt):
   Fourscholars have been awarded D.Litt. in our department. A few other D.Litt. projects are also in progress.
   [c] Thrust area of on going research projects:
   1. Theory & Method of Folkloristics
   2. Comparative Folklore
   3. Applied Folklore
   4. Folk Musicology
   5. Folkarts & crafts
   6. Children folklore
   7. Folk performing arts
   8. Traditional knowledge
   9. Folk literature
   10. Folk food etc.
   11. Tribal Lore
   12. Folk Science & Technology
   13. Folklore & Tourism etc.
   [d] Minor Research Projects Carried Out:
   The Department staffs, either independently or in collaboration with other departments or agencies undertake minor and major research projects. Three of our faculty members have completed Minor Research Projects from UGC during the X Plan Period.  Another research project with collaboration of the department of Textile, Govt. of India has also been completed. The department also carries on, an ongoing basis; such research oriented works as field surveys, field study, collection and documentation of materials related to the folklore as well as traditional articles with cultural and aesthetic significance.

Minor Research Project Title & Principal Investigator	Funding Agency	Duration of the Project	Total Money in Rs sanctioned
“Survey scroll painting , Kalighat painting and Suri bowl”  Prof B.K.Chakraborty (Completed)	Dept. of Textile. Govt. of India	One month	90000.00
“Conch-shell Craft of West Bengal” Dr. Sujay Kumar Mandal (Completed)	UGC	2 Years	25000.00
“Agricultural Science as revealed in our  Agricultural Proverbs” Dr. Kakali Dhara Mandal (Completed)	UGC	2 Years	20000.00
“Astak: Ekti Bilioman Lokoangik” Dr. Tapan Kumar Biswas (Completed)	UGC	1 Year	10000.00

[d] Ongoing UGC Major Research Projects:

Major Research Project Title & Principal Investigator	Funding Agency	Duration of the Project	Total Money in Rs sanctioned
“A STUDY OF TERRACOTTA TEMPLE ARCHITECTURE AT THE TEMPLE VILLAGE MALUTI IN JHARKHAND” Dr. Sujay Kumar Mandal	UGC	Two Years	4,15,000.00

[e] Miscellaneous:
Every student of the final semester of the M.A. course takes up a dissertation project under the supervision of the faculty of the department on various topics of folklore and other socio-cultural issues.
DOCUMENTATION   
There is a museum in the Department, which is equipped with various materials related to Folklife. Besides, we have prepared a number of Video Cassettes on folklore genre (Nachni Dance, Chhou Dance, Raibense Dance, Glimpses of Folk Dance of Bengal, Folk Art & Craft of Bengal etc.) We have prepared a number of Audio Cassettes on Folk Songs of Bengal. Slides on Folk Art of Bengal have also been prepared from the Gurusaday Museum. We have a photo-Album on Banabibir Pala (a kind of Folk Drama).

Infra-structural Facilities :

1. MUSEUM CUM ARCHIVE
   A department like Folklore can not run with out a museum cum archive and audio-visual complex. The Department of Folklore was established in the year 1990. Since then we have been trying to enrich our museum cum archive. Now it is located in a classroom. This museum cum archive has been started and a good number of items of cultural importance have been collected, documented and displayed. This will help in generating an interest in the minds of the students in particular and the public in general, for the preservation and appreciation of the traditional culture and artistic heritage of the people.
   Basically we give emphasis to collect these materials which are directly connected with folklife. We have been collected various masks which are used in folk and tribal dances. We have in our possession one fossil. We have been able to collect various silver ornaments, used by the folks, different specimens of Terracotta, Scroll paintings of Midnapore, fishing nets and other materials, Suri bowl of Birbhum, Wodden dolls,varied folk tools, Naksi kantha, Kalighat Paintings, specimens of Conch-shell craft, Dokra and others, rare collection of folk deities etc. 
   In fact our museum cum archive is the only museum in the University which is visited by the scholars, researches, students. Already the mention of this museum cum archive has been made in a number of books. This museum cum archive needs special accommodated with proper electric arrangement including air conditioning.
2. AUDIO-VISUAL COMPLEX
   The Department initially started a Documentation Centre in a miniature from out of personal collections and materials already collected through extensive field work. The Department is even alert the rapid extinction, erosion or distortion of traditional folklore materials due to various socio-ecinomic factors including the position of the country, the problem of exodus and others end that folklore had to pay inevitable toll in the hands of time. For above reasons, the Department devotes its all-possible efforts to the collection, documentation and preservation of the traditional culture.
   The department envisages to build Documentation Centre, Folklife Museum, Folklore Archive and Instrumental Aid Unit to provide valuable supplement to class teaching and higher research in traditional culture. To make the Department functionally viable, we strongly believe that the Audio-Visual Centre is imperative.
3. LIBRARY FACILITIESA departmental library with a specialised collection of books and journals, some of them procured from different sources as gifts, has been established mainly for the benefit of the students, research scholars and the faculty members of the department. We have been running a departmental library comprising 2000 books, periodicals and journals on various aspects of Folkloristics and traditional culture. The library has also enriched from the collection of Ph.D. and D.Litt. Thesis. Each student provides four books at a time.

Publication :

The department has already undertaken a move for publication. Field Report, Research Monograph, and related research oriented works in view of the co-ordination and development of folklore scholarship with theoretical and methodological quest for Pan-Indian folkloric paradigm.

1. Folkloristics Perspective (1992), Edited by Dr. Tushar Chattopadhyay
2. Folk Language : A Myth or Reality (1985) by Dr. Deba Prasad Banerjee
3. Folk Deities of Bengal (1998), Edited by Dr. P.K.Deb, Dr. A. Guha & Dr. B.K. Chakraborty
4. Yuddha Nritya (War Dance) by Dr. Muhua Mukherjee (2001)
5. Bangladesher Lokosankriti Charcha (2001) (A collection of articles highlighting the endeavor made by the scholars of Bangladesh to uplift the standard of Folklore studies in Bangladesh)
6. Lokosankriti Rachana Panji (Bibliography of Folklore) (2002), Compiled by Dr. Biswajit Roy Chowdhury and Edited by Dr. B.K.Chakraborty
7. Lokodarpan (2003),Bilingual Annual Research Journal on Folklore, Edited by Dr. Kakali Dhara Mandal, Dr. Sujay Kumar Mandal and Dr. Tapan Kumar Biswas
8. Lokodarpan(2006), Bilingual Annual Research Journal on Folklore, Edited by Dr. Sujay Kumar Mandal, Dr. Kakali Dhara Mandal and Dr. Tapan Kumar Biswas
9. Lokodarpan (2007), Bilingual Annual Research Journal on Folklore, Edited by Dr. Tapan Kumar Biswas Dr. Kakali Dhara Mandal  and Dr. Sujay Kumar Mandal
10. Department of Folklore: A Profile (2005), Editor-in-chief: Dr. Sujay Kumar Mandal, Editor: Dr. Kakali Dhara Mandal and Dr. Tapan Kumar Biswas

Workshop/Seminar & Lecture Demonstration :

1. William Carry and Bengali Folk Literature – Father Detience (March 10, 1990)
2. Lecture Demonstration on Bengali Folk Song – Institute of Folk Culture (April 21,1990)
3. Ethno-Musiocology –Mr. & Mrs. Stanley Scott (April 26, 1990)
4. Patua Paintings and Songs – Khandu Chitrakar ( July, 1990)
5. Current Trends in Folkloristics – Frank Koram (November 15,1990)
6. Folk Songs of Bengal – Sukho Bilas Barma, Narayan Chatterjee, Dr. Ratan Nandy, Dr.Gouri Bhattacharjee and Sunil Saha (December 20,1990)
7. Ashutosh Bhattacharya Memorial Lecture – Dr. Asit Kr. Bandopadhyay, Dr. Ajit Kr. Ghosh, Dr Subhas Banerjee , Dr. Bhabatosh Dutta, Dr. Haripada Chakraborty ( January 15, 1991)
8. Communication, Media and Folkloristics – 2days Seminar in collaboration with C.C.C.A ( February 8-9, 1991)
9. Chau Dance – Mrs. Sharon Lawen (U.S.A.) ( July, 7, 1991)
10.  Colloquy on Folkloristics –Dr. Swapan Pramanik and Dr. Saraj Sengupta(July 7, 1991)
11. Literacy Campaign and Folklore – Dr. Subhankar Chakraborty ( July 25, 1991)
12. Folk Song of East Bengal—Mrs. Sephali Ghosh, Bangladesh ( July 25, 1991)
13. Mime and Folk drama – Niranjan Goswami ( September 9, 1991)
14. Colloquy on Folkloristics –Dr. Asraf Siddiqui, Bagladesh, Dr. Tulsi Diwasa, Nepal, Dr. Ranjeet Singh , Punjab, Dr. Bhabagrahi Mishra, Orissa ( September 26, 1991)
15. Tourism and Folklore – Professor Amitava Sen ( December 3, 1991)
16. Applied Folkloristics – Dr. Tushar Chattopadhyay ( January 8, 1992)
17. A practical demonstration on Kabigan – Ashim Sarkar ( January 19, 1997)
18. A seminar on Puppetry with practical demonstration  ( February 4,1998)
19. An International Seminar : Folklore Studies in Bangladesh ( April 5-6 ,1999)
20. A National Seminar : Comparative Folklore ( February 6-7, 1999)
21. A State Level Seminar : Folk Language ( December 15, 2000)
22. Women of Mymen Sing Gitika—Dr. M. Sahidur Rahaman , Mrs. Rokeya Rahaman , Bangladesh  (February 6, 2001)
23. A Conference of the students, research scholars and teachers of Folklore study (October 10, 2001)
24. A State Level Seminar on Tribal Culture (2001)
25. A seminar on National Integration and the Folklore of Nadia –Sri Mohit Roy ( March 25, 2002)
26. Exhibition on Applied Folk art & craft (September, 19-20, 2003) 
27. A State level Seminar on Folklore – Debanjan Chakraborty & Prof. Samir Dasgupta (April 21, 2004)
28. A State Level Seminar on Folklore – prof. Biplab Chakrabarty, Dr. Sisir majumder (April 27, 2004)
29. An International Seminar on Recent Trends in Folkloristics – Prof. Frank J. Korom, Dr. Soumen Sen , Dr. Dulal Choudhury and Prof. Aloke Kumar Banerjee ( Nov. 30 & Dec. 01, 2004)
30. Exhibition on Applied Folk art & crafts (February 22-24, 2005)
31. A State Level Seminar on folklore – Dr. Amit Ranjan basu & Dr. Debaprasad Bandyopadhyay (February 23, 2005)
32. A National Seminar on Folk Narratives: Epic and Ballads (March 30-31, 2005)
33. A State Level Seminar on Annadasankar (January 09, 2006)
34. A State level Seminar on Folklore (December 10, 2007)
35. A State level Seminar on Folklore (January 15, 2008)
36. A State Level Seminar on Folk-Classical Continuum (March 24, 2008)
37. A National Seminar on Folklore: The Voice of the Voiceless (August 21, 2008)
38. A State Level Seminar on Lokokabi Bijoy Sarkar  (September 26, 2008)
39. An International Conference & Exhibition on Folklore Perspective: Folkart and Folklife (January 15-16, 2009)
40. An International Seminar on Folklore (February 22, 2010)
41. International Seminar on Recent Trends on Folklore Study: International Perspective (September 27, 2013)
42. Special Lecture on Folklore Concept and Perspective by Professor Kailash Pattanaik (December 11, 2013)

Fieldwork :

Every year students and research scholar are taken to different districts for extensive fieldwork. List of the departmental fieldwork:

1. Karta Bhja and Bauls (1990) – Ghosh Para, Nadia,West Bengal.
2. Gajan—Charak and Bolan(1990)—Passey, Nadia, West Bengal.
3. Chhata Parab and other associated festivals and village Study(1990)—Balarampur,Purulia, West Bengal.      
4. Kabi Song & Other Folk Songs, Kataganj, Kanchrapara, North 24 Parganas
5. Parafolkloric Religious Sects(1991) – Daihata, Ghoshpara, Nadia, West Bengal.
6. Parafolkloric Religious Sects (1991) – Katwa, Burdwan, West Bengal.
7. Folk Religion and Festivals, Kabi Song and Martial Dance(1991)—Kandi,Murshidabad, West Bengal.
8. Folk Performing Arts (1992)–Islampur, West Dinajpur, West Bengal.
9. Sati Mayer Mela (1993),Ghoshpara, Nadia District, West Bengal
10. Sati Mayer Mela (1994),Ghoshpara, Nadia District, West Bengal
11. Folklore of Cooch Behar District(1995), West Bengal.
12. Folklore of Jalpaiguri District(1996), West Bengal.
13. Folklore of Purulia District(1997), West Bengal.
14. Folklore of Birbhum District(1998), West Bengal.
15. Folklore of South Dinajpur District(1999), West Bengal.
16. Folklore of Malda District(2000), West Bengal.
17. Folklore of South 24 Parganas District (2001), West Bengal.
18. Folklore of Nadia District (2002), West Bengal.
19. Folklore of Bankura District (2003), West Bengal.
20. Folklore of Paschim Medinipur District (2004), West Bengal.
21. Folklore of Darjeeling District(2005), West Bengal.
22. Folklore of Cooch Behar District(2006), West Bengal.
23. Folklore of Burdwan District(2007), West Bengal.
24. Folklore of Hooghly District(2008), West Bengal.
25. Folklore of North 24 Parganas District District(2009), West Bengal.
26. Folklore and Tribal Lore of Jalpaiguri District(2010), West Bengal.
27. Folklore and Tribal Lore of Uttar Dinajpur District(2011), West Bengal.
28. Folklore and Tribal Lore of Jalpaiguri District(2012), West Bengal.
29. Folklore and Tribal Lore of Jalpaiguri District(2013), West Bengal.

Award :

The Department of Folklore offers Silver medals every year to the eminent Folklorists of West Bengal and abroad. Pravabati Devi Memorial Medal is given to an eminent Indian Folklorists and Ashutosh Bhattacharya Memorial Medal is offer to a Folklorist of Bengal for their contribution