Srimanta Sankardev Janmotsav Celebration in Mumbai

Assam is known as the “land” of Srimanta Sankardev, and yes Mahapurush Janmutsav was celebrated with great enthusiasm and devotion by the entire Assamese community residing in Greater Mumbai on Sunday 23rd September 2007 at Assam Bhawan, Vashi, Navi Mumbai which was organized by the Assam Association Mumbai.

The celebration started with naam praxanga, performed by bhakats from Kamalabari Sattra, Majuli, the largest river island in the world, together with the Mumbai Assamese community. The praxanga ended with the religious ashirwad ceremony by the bhakats. It was then followed by the distribution of mah praxad, a special kind of prasad that includes chickpeas and black peas, green pulses, raw coconut, ginger, rice, and salt together with all kinds of seasonal fruit. After that, afternoon lunch was served to the entire members in the form of khichdi along with mixed vegetables, tomato jelly and kheer. The entire crowd, especially small children enjoyed the delicious khichidi very much.

The evening cultural session started at around 4:00 pm for which a very huge pandal was erected one day before, keeping in view to making the entire crowd comfortable during the show due to possible monsoon rains. The program started with the welcome speech by Deputy Resident Commissioner, Assam Bhawan –  Devashis Sharma, under whose special guidance the entire event was organized. Then the General Secretary,  Deepen Rajkonwar, gave a brief speech on Sankardev’s life history. The program was followed by welcoming the chief guests, Executive Director, ONGC, Pranip Kumar Borthakur and renowned Assamese film actor,  Biju Phukan by the President of the Assam Association Mumbai  Paban Kumar Kataky with the traditional Assamese phulam gamusa and bouquet.

The inaugural program was diha naam, which is a bhakti ras of Assam performed by cancer patients and their family members staying at Assam Bhawan. It was followed by bor geet, luko geet presented by the local Assamese Mumbai residents. The function became more breathtaking when the renowned Assamese singer Mitali Choudhury took the stage with bor geet in her sweet melodious voice. The program was then followed by the main attraction of the evening, a gayan bayan show, a traditional Assamese religious performance that was given birth to by the great social and cultural reformer of Assam, Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardev, during his life time. Sankardev brought a new enlightenment in the life of Assamese people by preaching faith and belief in one God; his teachings are still alive and followed widely till date. This was shown along with khool and mridang (kind of dholaks) and taal by the bhakats of Natun Kamalabari Sattra and Uttar Kamalabari Sattra of Majuli, Assam.

The special attraction of the program was a mesmerizing performance of satriya nritya by Prateesha Suresh, a renowned dancer who performed in various places in India and abroad, which made the audience worth seeing the show.

And thus the event was concluded.

By Deepankar Borgohain,  Joint Secretary, Assam Association Mumbai