Moheener Ghoraguli - Meaning of The Band's Name

Meaning of The Band's Name

The literal meaning of Moheen'er Ghora-guli is "Moheen's horses". While this obscure phrase puzzles many of the band's fans, it is actually taken from a poem Ghora ('Horses') from the poetry book Shatti Tarar Timir (Bengali: সাতটি তারার তিমির) by the great modernist Bengali poet Jibanananda Das. The second line of the poem is:

"মহীনের ঘোড়াগুলো ঘাস খায় কার্তিকের জ্যোৎস্নার প্রান্তরে;"

loosely translated as:

"Moheen's horses graze on the horizon, in the Autumn moonlight"

One of the band's most popular songs, Bhalobashi jyotsnae (Bengali: ভালোবাসি জ্যোৎস্নায়), is a tribute to the natural beauty of the Bengali countryside; the influence of Jibanananda's pastoral poetry is evident throughout the song.

There are other parallels: Jibanananda broke with the literary tradition of his time and introduced modernist themes and diction to Bengali poetry. He is often considered the first Bengali poet to truly break free of Rabindranath's imposing presence. To some extent, Moheener Ghoraguli attempted to do the same for Bengali popular music.