Rabindranath Tagore’s 'Bhangagan' : The Influence of Multicultural Melodies and the Nature of Creative Originality

Abstract

Rabindranath Tagore’s Bhangagan represents a distinctive and creative dimension of Bengali music, in which pre-existing melodies from diverse musical traditions were transformed into original artistic compositions. This study explores the sources, nature, processes, and creative significance of Tagore’s Bhangagan, with particular attention to the musical environment of the Jorasanko Tagore family. The study examines how Tagore’s early exposure to Hindustani classical music, Bengali folk traditions, regional Indian melodies, and Western music contributed to the development of his distinctive musical language.

         The research focuses on the major sources of Tagore’s borrowed and transformed melodies, including Dhrupad, Dhamar, Khayal, Thumri and Tappa, as well as Baul, Kirtan and Ramprasadi traditions. It also examines the influence of regional musical traditions from Karnataka, Gujarat, Punjab, Madras and Mysore, alongside Scottish, Irish and other Western melodies. The study demonstrates that Tagore’s Bhangagan was not merely an act of imitation or reproduction. Rather, he transformed existing melodic structures through new lyrics, rhythmic patterns, melodic modifications, emotional expression and aesthetic interpretation, thereby creating compositions with an independent artistic identity.

         The study further argues that the musical environment of the Jorasanko Tagore family, together with the influence of musicians and family members such as Jyotirindranath Tagore and Indira Devi Chaudhurani, played a significant role in shaping Tagore’s early musical sensibility. His engagement with diverse musical traditions reveals an openness to cultural exchange and a remarkable ability to assimilate external musical elements into a distinctly Bengali artistic framework. Thus, Tagore’s Bhangagan may be understood not simply as the borrowing of melodies but as a process of creative transformation through which diverse musical sources were integrated into the unique aesthetic language of Rabindra Sangeet. The study ultimately highlights Bhangagan as an important manifestation of Tagore’s musical creativity, cultural synthesis, and artistic individuality.