The bauls of Birbhum, their philosophy and their songs form a notable representation of the folk culture of the district. Birbhum has also been home to kabiyals, kirtaniyas and other folk culture groups.
The numerous fairs in Birbhum start with Poush Mela at Santiniketan and follows through the Bengali month of Poush till Makar Sankranti. Particularly lively is the fair at Jaydev Kenduli. Various festivities are organized across the seasons. People of Birbhum patronise folk entertainment programmes such as jatra, kavigan and alkap.
Many poets were born in this district, as for example, Chandidas (Rami). In addition to being a confluence of Vaishnava, Shaktaand Saiva cultures, Birbhum villages also observe prehistoric customs like worship of gramdevta (gram means village and devtameans deity) in many forms at different places.
Amongst the major attractions of Birbhum are Bakreshwar, Tarapith and Patharchapuri. Birbhum has many old temples, such as the ones at Jaydev Kenduli, Surul and Nanoor, with delicate decorative tiles made of terra cotta (burnt clay).
Personalities
Many famous people lived and worked in Birbhum, specially at Santiniketan. Nobel laureate economist Amartya Sen is one of them.Rabindranath Tagore made this district his home and established his great centre of learning, Visva Bharati University at Santiniketan. Jaydev Kenduli, which until recently was believed to be the birthplace of the 12th century Sanskrit poetJayadeva, is on the bank of the river Ajay. Nanoor is the birthplace of the 14th century poet Chandidas Rami.Nityananda Swami (Nitai of the famous Nitai-Gaur pair) the co–founder of Vaishnav religion with Shri Chityanyadev was born at Ekachakra. Tarashankar Bandopadhyay (1898–1971), one of the leading Bengali literary figures in recent times and who wrote extensively about life in Birbhum, belongs to Labhpur
