Embracing Controversy: The Mausoleum of Fakir Lalon Shah

Finally, my desire to pay a visit to this place has come true after so so many years. Although the mausoleum is only 3 hours' drive away, arranging the journey wasn’t a smooth experience. The most notable reason behind this delay is my procrastination followed by a strong influence of the saying “only the drugies go there.”

Being sober, I didn’t want to risk my reputation getting ruined, but deep down in my heart, the yearning for exploring the place remained. And so, after giving it a thought multiple times, I decided to go there without informing anyone but my friends and wife.

About the place:

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Those who know about Fakir Lalon Shah need no introduction but for a majority, he is still unknown mostly because his influence remains limited to Eastern South Asia; in Bangladesh and India, to be specific.

Fakir Lalon Shah, mostly known as Lalon Fakir is the most prominent figure in Baul philosophy; a religious belief that preaches humanity regardless of religion, gender, caste, and ethnicity. The idea is preached over songs masterfully composed either by himself or his selected followers and the lyrics remark on a different but convincing doctrine of god and his creation; mostly human beings.

Born and died during the British regime in the Indian subcontinent, his burial ground is located at Kushtia, Bangladesh— a place frequently visited by his followers and well-wishers every day even to this date. In fact, his works are subject to international research and you will find plenty of literary research papers online focusing on the Baul philosophy. Due to his contribution to the Bengali culture and heritage, his burial ground is preserved and has been turned into a mausoleum that includes graves of some notable baul philosophers as well. There is a small theatre close to the mausoleum where followers and admirers of this philosophy gather to celebrate and reflect on his belief during his birth and death anniversary.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t go during any of the anniversaries but I am glad that I finally made it to the place despite the odds. And the taboo of labelling visitors “addicts” is because his admirers follow some of his footsteps, most notably, keeping long, braided uncombed hair with a habit of smoking pot. Since this is regarded as a symbol of “gone-to-dogs” in our society, so, yeah, can’t complain.

The Route We Followed to Go There:

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After a long 4 hours of driving my father’s motorbike, we reached there. But the place was unknown to us and so, we moved in a circle before the locals pointed us in the right direction. Sadly, I failed to point the place right on Google Maps and it directed me to the wrong place, causing us to drive more 3-4 km looking for the mausoleum.

The journey started from Jashore and we took a short break in the Jhenaidah district as my wife became suddenly ill. As it was nothing significant, we started our journey again. The roads were quite decent, except for a few potholes, some parts under maintenance, and reckless drivers with their beasts. I have never been to the northern roads of our country. Surprisingly, they are in quite a good condition with aged treelines and enough space for multiple vehicles to fit side by side. So, yeah, I enjoyed cruising the route. And when we reached there, it was already midday. So, we decided to explore it quickly and return to home before evening.

Things We Enjoyed:

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I thought I would witness crowds of pot smokers and smell it while I can, lol. But there was none, literally, there was not a single of them that I found smoking joints. Very disappointing compared to the existing propaganda.

Apart from that, we enjoyed the surrounding, historic preservations, activities of some baul saints, and a small museum preserving some of the last remains of Fakir Lalon Shah himself and his favoured baul devotees.

_{Entering the mausoleum, a gigantic dome attracts first which is the centre of this place. This is where the body of Lalon fakir is laid underneath. His grave is wrapped in red cloth with some incense sticks ignited that give a strong aroma. There is a Baul saint standing by all the time. I don’t know his function there but he seems to be enjoying his job; to guard his guru’s fallen body.}

_{On your way to the burial spot of Lalon, you will notice this musical instrument standing tall. This is unique to these baul philosophers along with a few others. The details of the sculpture are inscribed as you can see and it seems like he is the man behind all the designs out there.}

_{The mural of Lalon fakir; enormous as his belief and doctrine. Standing tall facing the shrine of the saint.}

_{Behind the mural, there is a spacious gathering spot mostly for baul devotees living there. They gather there on different occasions and offer the visiting guests their thoughts and beliefs through their music. Based on the arrangements, I guess most of the causal musical events take place around the afternoon. As we had to leave earlier, we couldn’t attend any.}

_{Besides the shrine, a museum offering a grand display of the remains of Lalon Fakir and some of his followers might catch your attention. You need to buy tickets to enter there. Cheap though. As you can see, the museum includes various items used by the philosophers, and their contribution to society is described by the painting available there.}

_{Outside of the shrine, there is a huge playground where the festival takes place during anniversaries. There is a mural as well similar to the earlier one and a sculpture of the greatest baul philosopher himself. Due to the blazing sun and my impotence in capturing splendid photos, all my captures turned out to be shabby and lifeless. But I assure you, this place is full of enthusiasm and uplifting spirits. I hope to visit the place again soon.}

_{Some souvenir shops. We bought a few items, including two musical instruments for my kids and purse for her, and a hair clip made from elephant’s bone.}

The journey was relaxing. We enjoyed being there but couldn’t stay long as it’s winter and roads may get foggy once the sun starts setting down. As mentioned earlier, I will be there again, soon.

_{Images and everything in this post are mine unless mentioned otherwise}