The use of folk art in communicating a social messages is there across different media platforms. Folk art, in its different forms, sometimes works as an alternative media to the discourses of mainstream media and society. As an art of the grassroots it has its own place among the voices that shoot-up from the margin and periphery. Pot song is a folk cultural form prevailing in Bangladesh from centuries, to spread information and education for the masses. Scroll canvases painted with colourful pictures of economical, religious or social issues are used while performing the Pot Songs. “Rupantar” is a developing NGO of Bangladesh, registered in 1995 with the Social Welfare Department of the government of Bangladesh and the NGO Affairs bureau. It is currently working in raising awareness on different social issues like violence against women, gender equality, dowry system, and early marriage by using Pot Songs. It is worthy to mention that during the time of Mahapurush Shrimanta Shankardev, a similar kind of art form Chihna Yatra was prevalent in Assam which was propagated by Shankardev for dissemination of developmental messages. This research paper would try to highlight the activities carried out by Rupantar using pot song in Bangladesh and also try to analyze the reach and access of this traditional art form in the dissemination of the developmental messages. Keywords: Culture, Pot Song, Traditional folk media, Development Communication

1. POT SONG
AS A TOOL OF DEVELOPMENTCOMMUNICATION
WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO
“RUPANTAR’’ AN NGO IN BANGLADESH
Par as har Kalita
Kr antik Sa n d ilya
C ommunic ation and jour nalis m
depar tment
Gauhati U n ive r s ity

2. CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 AIMS AND OBJECTIVE
 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
 WHAT IS “POT SONG” ?
 CHIHNA YATRA
 INFORMATION OF POT SONG PRODUCTION AND
SHOW (1996 TO 2018)
 CASE STUDY
 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
 CONCLUSION

3. INTRODUCTION
1. AS AN ART OF THE GRASSROOTS, FOLK ART HAS ITS OWN PLACE AMONG THE VOICES THAT
SHOOT UP FROM THE MARGIN COMMUNICATING SOCIAL MESSAGES ACROSS DIFFERENT
PLATFORMS. THE CULTURE OF A SOCIETY MANIFESTS ITSELF IN MANY DISTINCT WAYS
THROUGH “CREATIVE EXPRESSIONS” LIKE SONGS, DANCE, MUSIC, LITERATURE,
ARCHITECTURE ETC. AND “COMMUNITY PRACTICES” LIKE TRADITIONAL HEALING METHODS,
TRADITIONAL NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT, VARIOUS SOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS
CEREMONIES ETC. DESPITE THE RAPID DIFFUSION OF NEW COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES
IN THE CULTURE, FOLK MEDIA CONTINUE TO DEMONSTRATETHEIR VALUE AS EFFECTIVE
VEHICLES FOR SOCIAL MESSAGES.
2. FOLK MEDIA ARE OFTEN DESCRIBED AS MEDIA FOR THE FOLK, THAT IS THE MASSES OF PEOPLE MOST DEPRIVED
OF SPECIFIC MESSAGES. FOLK ART IS A SYMBOL OF COMMUNICATION WHICH BRINGS OUT THE INNERMOST
FEELINGS. IT DEPICTS THE CULTURAL ASPECTS OF A CIVILIZATION AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS. THE FOLK SONGS ARE
SONGS WITH UNIDENTIFIED COMPOSERS AND PLAINNESS OF MODEL MELODY, ORIGINATING AMONG THE FOLK
PEOPLE, PASSED BY ORAL TRADITION FROM ONE GENERATION TO THE NEXT.
3. BANGLADESH IS A VERITABLE TREASURE TROVE OF FOLK SONGS. AMONG THESE FOLK SONGS IN BANGLADESH
“POT SONG” IS ONE OF THE OLDEST FOLK CULTURAL FORMS THAT HAVE BEEN IN USE FOR CENTURIES FOR
INFORMATION DISSEMINATION AND EDUCATION. THIS SONG IS PERFORMED USING A CANVAS PAINTED WITH

4. INTRODUCTION
4. THIS FORM WAS DEVELOPED SINCE 12TH CENTURIES WITH VERY LOW-COST
COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY AND EASY WAY TO REACH A NUMBER OF PEOPLE AND
MAKE THEM AWARE ABOUT THE COMPLEX SITUATION OF THE SOCIETAL PROBLEMS.
EARLIER “POT SONG” MOSTLY ILLUSTRATED MYTHOLOGICAL STORIES AND GRADUALLY
IT BECOME ENDANGERED OF BEING FORGOTTEN. BUT NOW TO MAKE THIS ART FORM
MORE POPULAR AMONG THE PEOPLE, “RUPANTAR” A NON-GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANIZATION (NGO) WORKING IN SEVERAL DISTRICTS OF BANGLADESH HAS COME
FORWARD.
5. RUPANTAR” HAS SO FAR DEVELOPED 168 POT SONG ON ON SPECIFIC ISSUES LIKE
WOMEN RIGHTS, GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT, WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT,
CONSERVATION OF MANGROVE FOREST, CIVIC AWARENESS, DEMOCRACY AND
GOVERNANCE, VOTER EDUCATION, STRENGTHENING LOCAL GOVERNMENT, REDUCING
TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN, REDUCING VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE
CHANGE, ARSENIC MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT, COOPERATIVE, CONSERVATION OF
ENVIRONMENT ETC.

5. AIMS AND OBJECTIVE
1. TO EXPLORE HOW “POT SONG” IS A TOOL OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION.
2. TO FIND OUT HOW FAR THE THOUGHTS COMMUNICATED BY THE “POT SONG”
HAVE SUCCEEDED IN SHAPING THE OUTLOOK OF THE PEOPLE OF
BANGLADESH.

6. REASEARCH METHODOLOGY
 THE STUDY IS A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS WITH EMPIRICAL ELEMENTS. THE PRIMARY DATA
HAS BEEN COLLECTED FROMTHE PLACES OF BANGLADESH, WHICH THE RESEARCHER
PERSONALLY VISITED, WHERE “RUPANTAR” THE NGO PERFORMED THE “POT SONG”.
TOOLS OF PRIMARY DATA COLLECTION ARE INTERVIEW AND OBSERVATION. IN THIS,BOTH
PERSONAL AND GROUP INTERVIEW AS WELL AS BOTH PARTICIPATION AND NON-
PERTICIPATION OBSERVATION METHODS WERE USED.
 THE SECONDARY DATA WAS COLLECTED FROM POPULAR PUBLICATIONS PUBLISHED BY
RUPANTAR AND DATA GIVEN BY “RUPANTAR” AS WELL AS OTHER SOURCES.

7. WHAT IS “POT SONG” ?
 POT SONG IS A FOLK CULTURAL FORM PREVAILING IN BANGLADESH FROM 12TH CENTURY, TO
SPREAD INFORMATION AND EDUCATION FOR THE MASSES. SCROLL CANVASES PAINTED WITH
COLOURFUL PICTURES OF ECONOMICAL, RELIGIOUS OR SOCIAL ISSUES ARE USED WHILE
PERFORMING THE POT SONGS. IN THE PRESENT ERA IT IS USED TO RAISE AWARENESS ON
DIFFERENT SOCIAL ISSUES LIKE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, GENDER EQUALITY, DOWRY
SYSTEM AND EARLY MARRIAGE ETC.
 THERE ARE DIFFERENT OPINIONS REGARDING THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD POT. MAJORITY SAYS
THE TERM IS DERIVED FROM THE SANSKRIT WORD ‘PATTA’. WHERE THE OTHER SAYS THE WORD
IS DERIVED FROM THE TAMIL WORD ‘PADAM’ MEANING PICTURE. THEREFORE, POT PICTURE
MEANS A PICTURE PAINTED ON PAPER OR CLOTH.
 ACCORDING TO RAFIQUL ISLAM KHOKAN, THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF RUPANTAR, POT SONGS
WAS ORIGINALLY COLLECTED FROM THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF BANGLADESH WHICH WAS A
HISTORICAL EVENT OF SOME AREA AND PRACTICED BY THE RURAL PERFORMERS. THIS FOLK ART
WAS VERY VIBRANT AND HAD A DIRECT EFFECT ON THE PEOPLE TOWARDS MOTIVATING THEM
ON SPECIFIC MESSAGES AS IT HAS A CERTAIN RHYTHM.

8. RUPANTAR
 RUPANTAR IS NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION (NGO) WORKING IN A NUMBER OF DISTRICTS OF
BANGLADESH, IMPACTING THE LIVES MILLIONS OF DISADVANTAGES PEOPLE.
 RUPANTAR METHOD OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION THROUGH FOLK CULTURE (SONGS, DRAMAS)
IS POWERFUL. FOR EXAMPLE, IT UNDERTAKES INITIATIVES FOR RAISING AWARENESS ON DIFFERENT
SOCIAL ISSUES LIKE VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN, GENDER EQUALITY, DOWRY SYSTEM,EARLY MARRIAGE
ETC.
 TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE RURAL PEOPLE, ITS PROMOTES FOLKLORE DRAMA, POPULAR
PUBLICATIONS AND TRADITIONAL FOLK SONG.

9. CHIHNA YATRA
 SHANKARDEV’S “CHINA YATRA” DRAMA WAS A REVOLUTIONARY CONTRIBUTION IN THE
HISTORY OF ASSAMESE SOCIETY. HERE THE WORD ‘CHIHNA’ MEANS SYMBOLS. HE USED
DIFFERENT CLOTH CANVASES WITH DIFFERENT DRAWINGS OF DIFFERENT SITUATION OR
MYTHOLOGICAL STORIES TO BRING CULTURAL AWARENESS AND REALIZATION. ALONG
WITH THE VIBRANT CANVASES HE USED DIFFERENT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, SONGS AND
DANCE IN THE DRAMA.
FROM THE LITTLE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ABOUT “CHIHNA YATRA”, WE CAN ASSUME
THAT THERE WERE SOME SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE ART FORMS OF SHANKARDEV’S
CHIHNA YATRA AND POT SONG OF BANGLADESH.MAHAPURUSH SHRIMANTA
SHANKARDEV ALSO MADE USE OF DIFFERENT POT CHITRA FOR PROMOTION OF
VAISHNAVISM IN THE STATE OF ASSAM. AS IN BANGLADESH, THE DIFFERENT PICTURES
OF POT CHITRA DISSEMINATE DIFFERENT MESSAGES ASSOCIATED WITH IT, THE
CENTURIES OLD AND NOW OBSOLETE CHIHNAJATRA ART FORM ALSO TRANSMITTED THE
VIBRANT COLOURS OF VAISHNAVISM THROUGH SEVEN PICTURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE
LIFE OF LORD KRISHNA.

10. RUPANTAR AND POT SONG
THOUGH POT SONGS WERE ALMOST ENDANGERED, RUPANTAR BROUGHT IT BACK BY
ADDING MORE COLOURS TO IT. THEY ADDED THE DANCE PART.
THEY HAVE DEVELOPED THE CAPACITY TO PERFORM FOR ANY DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES. SO
FAR, THEY HAD DEVELOPED 168 POT SONGS ON SPECIFIC THEME LIKE WOMEN RIGHTS,
GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT, WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, CONSERVATION OF
MANGROVE FOREST, CIVIC AWARENESS, DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE, VOTER
EDUCATION, STRENGTHENING LOCAL GOVERNMENT, REDUCING TRAFFICKING OF WOMEN AND
CHILDREN, REDUCING VULNERABILITY TO CLIMATE CHANGE, ARSENIC MITIGATION AND
MANAGEMENT, COOPERATIVE, CONSERVATION OF ENVIRONMENT, MIGRATION , SOCIAL MEDIA
AWARENESS ETC AS SAID BY MR. SWAPAN GUHA- EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF RUPANTAR.
RUPANTAR HAS PERFORMED POT SONGS ON BANGLADESHI TELEVISION AND MANY
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SEMINARS AND HAVE BEEN VERY MUCH PRAISED

11. INFORMATION OF POT SONG PRODUCTION
AND SHOW
(1996 TO 2018)UPDATED ON JANUARY, 2019
SUJECT/ISSUE- 17
NO OF DEVELOPED POT SONG- 167
NO OF PERFORMANCE- 11,176
TOTAL VIEWRS - 11,202,617
MALE VIEWRS- 6,226,232
FEMELE VIEWRS- 4,976,385

12. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (1)
 THE SOCIETY AS AN ENTITY EVOLVED AS A RESULT OF COMMON CONSCIOUSNESS
DEVELOPED IN THE PRIMITIVE STAGE AMONG THE INDIVIDUALS. WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME
ITS MEMBER DEVELOPED VARIOUS NORMS AND BELIEF WHICH GOVERN THE COMMUNITY,
WHICH DO REFLECT IN THE ACCEPTANCE OF SYMBOLS, ARTEFACTS, SONG, DRAMA,
INSTRUMENTS ETC AND VARIOUS TOTEM MATERIALS WHICH MAY TERMED AS A SACRED.
THESE MATERIALS DO ACT AS AN INFORMATION BEARER AND CARRIER FOR NEXT
GENERATION.

13. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (2)
 THERE ARE MANY SIMILAR CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN POT SONG AND COMMUNICATION.
 LIKE COMMUNICATION THE PERFORMANCES OF POT SONGS ARE VERY MUCH INFORMATIVE,
WHICH DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE.
 BOTH CAN MANIPULATE PEOPLE AND CREATE AWARENESS ABOUT DIFFERENT SOCIAL,
POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC ISSUES LIKE WOMEN RIGHTS, GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT, WATER
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, CIVIC AWARENESS, DEMOCRACY AND GOVERNANCE, VOTER
EDUCATION ETC.
 COMMUNICATION AND POT SONGS BOTH CAN PREVENT HARMFUL DOINGS AND HELP PEOPLE IN
DEVELOPING CREATIVITY AND ENLIGHTEN THE SOUL.

14. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (3)
 THERE ARE ALSO SOME SIMILARITIES BETWEEN POT SONGS OF BANGLADESH AND
SHANKARDEV’S CHIHNA YATRA.
 BOTH USED DRAWING CANVASES TO ELABORATE THE MASSAGES. VIBRANT MUSIC IS
ANOTHER COMMON FACTOR OF POT SONGS AND CHIHNA YATRA. BOTH POT SONGS AND
CHIHNA YATRA WAS ORIGINALLY BASED ON MYTHOLOGY BUT HELPS IN SPREADING
DEVELOPMENTAL MASSAGES TO THE SOCIETY.
From the book Chihna Yatra by Proff Jagadish Patgiri

15. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION (4)
FROM THIS RESEARCH IT IS FOUND THAT TRADITIONAL FOLK ART HAS VERY STRONG IMPACT
THAT CAN INFLUENCE AND MANIPULATE PEOPLE AND CHANGE THEIR VISION TOWARDS THE
SOCIAL ISSUES.
DUE TO ITS NATURE OF ORIGINALITY, PEOPLE FEEL MORE CONNECTED TO IT THAN ANY OTHER
ART FORM.
IN ALL THESE YEARS SINCE 1995, RUPANTAR HAS ACHIEVED A HUGE SUCCESS IN REACHING AN
AUDIENCE OF NEARLY 11.0 MILLION IN BANGLADESH, WITH ITS CULTURAL PERFORMANCES OF
POT SONGS.
IN ASSAM ALSO, WE CAN GET RID OF SOCIO-POLITICAL ISSUES LIKE WITCH-HUNTING,
File Photo- Assam tribune Communal violence in Assam
2012- Photo BBC

16. CONCLUSION
 POT SONG IS A VALUABLE FOLK MEDIA TOOL FOR DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION WHICH
HAS BEEN CONCLUSIVELY PROVED BY FULFILLING WORKS OF RUPANTAR.
 IN THIS STUDY WE HAVE SEEN THAT FOLK SONG CAN BEEN USED AS A VERITABLE TOOL OF
COMMUNICATION FOR DEVELOPMENT. WITH THE POPULARITY OF FOLK MEDIA AMONG THE
RURAL PEOPLE FOLK SONGS AND PERFORMANCE ART ARE COMMONLY USED FOR SOCIAL AND
BEHAVIOUR CHANGE COMMUNICATION (SBCC).
 THIS EXPLAINS THE SUCCESS OF RUPANTAR IN THEIR MISSION AS WELL AS THE POPULARITY
OF POT SONG. WHILE A FOLK PERFORMANCE ART LIKE POT SONG CAN BE VALUED FOR ITS
CULTURAL WORTH IT IS ALSO A VALUABLE TOOL OF COMMUNICATION WITH ITS RICH HERITAGE
AND POPULARITY AMONG THE MASSES.
 POT SONG AS A TRADITIONAL FOLK MEDIA CAN PLAY A VERY POWERFUL ROLE SO FAR AS
MASS COMMUNICATION IS CONCERN. FINALLY, IT PROVED POT SONG IS AND WILL BE A MAJOR
TOOL FOR COMMUNICATION AMONG THE MASSES.