KOLKATA, India (UCAN) — Suranjan Makhal was surprised when a Jesuit priest sang about the teachings of Jesus on an ektara, a one-string musical instrument, during a religious program in this eastern city.

Father Chinnappan performs baul songs

“It was the first time I listened to baul songs by a Catholic priest,” Makhal admitted. He had come from Keorapukur parish in Baruipur diocese to see two Jesuit priests use local art forms to explore biblical themes.

The Aug. 23 program at St. Xavier’s College was titled “Bible, Baul and Bharatanatyam: An evening of song and dance meditations.”

Baul, popular in West Bengal and Bangladesh, is a folksong tradition with philosophical overtones. Bharatanatyam is a classical dance form that developed in southern India.

Father John Chinnappan, a self-taught baul singer, and Father Saju George, a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, together with their musical troupe, enthralled the audience for two hours.

“I found it interesting to listen to Father Chinnappan’s rendering of the message of the Bible in an idiom which is easy for me to understand,” Makhal commented.

Father Chinnappan sang about Jesus as the way to the Father, his invitation to people leave everything in order to follow him, his words of encouragement and other Gospel themes.

The 41-year-old priest, who performed eight songs, told UCA News his vocation is to preach the Gospel in the vocabulary and idiom of Bengal, fulfilling the command of Jesus to share the Gospel with the whole world. He added that the people’s response to his presentation overwhelmed him.

Makhal said Father George’s 15-minute solo Bharatanatyam performance of the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus also surprised him.

Father George, 44, explained: “The Lord was nailed to the cross and requires my hands to reach out to the people in need, and he invites me to offer myself in the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola — ‘Take Lord, receive!'” He said he has performed this particular piece more than 100 times in Europe and several times in India.

Father George enacts the crucifixion of Jesus using Bharatanatyam dance

In the West, he added, people do not like to watch depictions of great suffering, whereas in India people are affected deeply by it.

Father George said his other troupe members, all Hindus, go beyond the narrow boundaries of religion and find fulfillment in performing works with Christian themes.

According to Christian baul singer Sonojit Mondol, who attended the program, baul is a spiritual tradition. With the Bible’s focus on spiritual values, it is easy to compose and sing baul songs based on biblical themes, he said.

The program was part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of the Church’s presence in Bengal and the founding of St. Xavier’s School in Kolkata.

Church leaders who attended included Bishop Salvadore Lobo of Baruipur and three heads of Religious congregations: Missionaries of Charity Sister Mary Prema, Missionaries of Charity Brother Geoff Brown and Daughters of St Anne Sister Florence Rozario.