Ask a Teacher

In late 19th century India, nationalists began recording folktales sung by bards and they

toured villages to gather folk songs and legends. These tales , they believed, gave a true picture of traditional culture that had been corrupted and damaged by the outside forces. It was essential to preserve this folk tradition in order to discover one’s national identity and restore a sense of pride in one’s past.  In Bengal Rabindranath Tagore himself collected ballads, nursery rhymes and myths, and led the movement for folk revival.