Kangal Harinath (Bangla: কাঙ্গাল হরিনাথ), which means "Penniless Harinath", was a well-known Baul

Baul

Baul .Though Bauls comprise only a small fraction of the Bengali population, their influence on the culture of Bengal is considerable. In 2005, the Baul tradition was included in the list of "Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity" by UNESCO.-Etymology:The origin of the word...

 of Bengal

Bengal

Bengal is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous...

, also known as "Fakir Chand Baul". He was born in Kushtia District

Kushtia District

Kushtia, Kushtia district or Kushtia Zila is a district in the Khulna administrative division of western Bangladesh. Kushtia has existed as a separate district since the partition of India. Prior to that, Kushtia was a part of Nadia District under Bengal Province of British India. Kushtia was home...

, now in Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, named Harinath Majumdar. He lost his parents at an early age.

Harinath was a disciple of Lalon Shah

Lalon

Fakir Lalon Shah , also known as Lalon Shah , was a Bangladeshi philosopher poet. His poetry, articulated in songs, are considered classics of the Bangla language...

. He had very little formal education. However, he took up journalism to promote the cause of the poor and oppressed, writing in Sambad Prabhakar

Sambad Prabhakar

Sambad Prabhakar was a Bengali daily newspaper founded by Ishwar Chandra Gupta and published in the first half of the nineteenth century. It began as a weekly newspaper in 1831 and became a daily eight years later in 1839. It was the first Bengali daily newspaper...

. He established a Baul group named "Kangal Fakir Chander Dal" (Group of the Penniless Fakir Chand) in 1880. His songs had a profound influence on many thinkers of the day, including Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore , sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped his region's literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he became the first non-European Nobel laureate by earning the 1913 Prize in Literature...

 and Akshay Kumar Maitreya

Akshay Kumar Maitreya

Akshay Kumar Maitreya was a noted Indian historian and social worker from Bengal. He was born in Nadia to Mathuranath Maitreya. Much of his education was in Kolkata and Rajshahi . He passed his B.L. examination from Rajshahi College...

.
On his death, the Indian Mirror commented "The district of Nuddea

Nadia District

Nadia district is a district of the state of West Bengal, in the north east of India. It borders with Bangladesh to the east, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly districts to the south, Bardhaman district to the west, and Murshidabad district to the north....

has lost one its great men".[