The Bauls are the mystic & wandering singers and musicians that hail from West Bengal. Baul comes from the Sanskrit word "Vayu" that refers to "Wind" and as the wind is unstoppable at any place, the Baul keeps on wandering from place to place. However, Bauls are meant to dance and sing joyful songs in order to stress on the mystic union with their Divine.

The philosophy of the Bauls is born from different religious expressions such as Tantrism, Buddhism, Sufism, Vaishnavism, which puts man at the very centre of universe. For them, the human body is the sacred dwelling of the Absolute, which can be reached only by a continuous interior search in a man. The search is for the Divine, which dwells in a man, also known as the "Maner Manush", the Man of heart. The Bauls also follows universal brotherhood and believe in detaching themselves from material things. They however, refuse every difference of races, casts and religions.

Their music expresses inner joy, happiness of love spreading from oneself trough old gesture and moving melodies arousing a pure and absolute meeting of hearts. This way the Baul live a free existence, without discrimination and rules, which then inturn makes them live a life forever foolishly. They wander from village to village asking for alms, by singing, dancing and recital of poetry. The verses of Baul poetry can come from past or present composers. The Baul songs are a very specialised branch of Bengali folk songs, which have unique elements in itself. Due to its unique appeal, it is considered as a very distinct folk practice.

In the Baul songs, a refrain generally recurs at the end of each stanza, the stanzas are roughly divided into two musical phrases. The first tends to hover around the lower tetrachord of the basic octave range, while the second reaches up to the higher tonic before descending again to the refrain that cadences on the lower tonic. This is a common Indian musical structure, and the division of the stanzas into two phrases of lower and higher ranges is clearly analogous to the similarly arranged structure of `Sthayi` and `Antara` phrases in Khayal or an instrumental Gat.

Many Baul gurus were and still are also poets; Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (13th Century) was the greatest known Baul singer, and he travelled all over India. History counts him as the biggest influence among Baul poets and singers of later generations. Lalan Fakir, one of the most famous of them, was a revolutionary and a holy man, who created more than 5000 such songs. His poetry sometimes looked very materialistic from on the outside, but its inner meaning, included the teachings of love and nature.

The singing style of Bauls is linked to other Bengali folk culture, from tribal to village and even urban life. But Bauls have established their own singing style, within which, every individual and regional style sometime remains very distinctive. Bauls always sing and dance together in such a way that the mind melts into the soul in a harmonious way. In their dancing body, energy becomes fluid and intense, and this movement process wipes the ego away. The Baul songs are usually solo songs although often accompanists and members of the audience join in the refrain and repetition phrases of the verse. The only possessions of the Bauls are their clothes and musical instruments, as well as their songs and secret practices. They play musical instruments made by themselves to accompany their songs. These include:

Khamak: A rhythmic instrument with one or two strings attached to the head of a small drum. The strings are plucked with a plectrum and they are alternatively tightened or slackened to generate an amazing array of rhythmic and tonal variations.
Tabla: A pair traditional Indian drums called `baya` (the left hand drum) and the `daina` (the right hand drum). The left drum has a clay based shell whilst the right drum has a wooden shell. Heads of both drums are covered in animal hide, the centre of which is applied with a layer of (dry) pulp mix. Tonal variation are achieved by adjusting tension of the skin head.
Mridanga or Khol: A barrel-shaped clay drum with two heads - sort of a combination of the baya and daina of tabla as described above.
Harmonium: A small keyboard instrument with hand-worked bellows - not unlike accordian.
Ektara: A plucked single string drone - fingers and thumb are used.
Khanjani: A tabourine without jangles.
Mandira or Kartal: Small bell-shaped cymbals.
Ghungur: A garland of bells tied around the ankle - played with rhythmic movements of feet.
Ramchaki: A pair of wooden clappers with jangles.