Kolkata: A priest who dedicated his life to the proclamation of the gospel adopting Bengali folk medium was laid to rest Friday.
Fr Pankakj Kumar Poti, a priest of Baruipur diocese in South 24 Parganas, West Bengal, was buried in his native parish of St Joseph Church at Raghabpur. He was 68.
Bishop Salvador Lobo of Baruipur presided over the services attended by more than 1,000 people along with some 120 priests and over 130 religious sisters.
Fr Poti who served as parish priest in several parishes of Baruipur diocese found time to use popular devotional folk style called ‘padavali kirtan,’ a form of call-and-response chanting in praise of God performed in the bhakti devotional traditions in India.
Fr Poti’s kirtan troupe was in great demand for open air performances in the parishes of South Bengal diocese of Calcutta, Baruipur and Krishnagar, during Advent and Christmas seasons as well as the entire Lenten season.
Sung in the distinctive Padavali style, Amrita Bani (Eternal Word) Kristiya Padavali Kirtan narrates the life of Jesus in three hours of non-stop singing and dramatic narration. The longer version performed in the villages in the open air could extend to some six hours and run late into the night or to the wee hours of the morning.
Wherever Fr Poti performed, he attracted people of all creeds who flocked from neighboring villages to hear the story of Jesus.
The kirtan practice involves chanting hymns or mantras to the accompaniment of instruments such as the harmonium, tabla, flute, violin, the two-headed dhol drum, and hand cymbals called kartals.
Kirtan singing is a major practice in Hindu Vaishnava devotionalism, Sikhism, and some forms of Buddhism, as well as other religious groups. Kirtan is accompanied by story-telling and acting with texts typically cover religious, mythological or social subjects.
“A great missionary priest and dedicated pastor, Fr Pankaj was an inspiration for me especially with his music ministry for evangelization using the kirtan style,” says his nephew Fr Himangshu Poti parish priest of Sacred Heart Church Thakurpukur.
A Kolkata based catechetical audiovisual centre, Nitika Don Bosco, did a major audio and video production of his kirtan style narration of the Life of Jesus in three formats of three each audio tapes, CDs and VCDs.
They were released at an open air function at Don Bosco Monsadah in North 24 Parganas, an Indo-Bangladesh border town, with Fr Pankaj and his kirtan troupe performing live on March 25, 2007. Archbishop Lucas Sirkar of Calcutta, Bishop Joseph Gomes of Krishnagar, and Fr Pankaj’s own Bishop Salvador Lobo of Baruipur graced the occasion with their presence.
The songs of the video production entitled AMRITA BANI is available on www.YouTube.com for the benefit of the entire Bengali speaking population of India, Bangladesh, and elsewhere.
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