Land around Assam monastery to be reserved for indigenous people

Land around Assam monastery to be reserved for indigenous people

Subject :History

Section: Art and culture

Source: TH

Context:

• The Assam government is working on a law to create an indigenous-only zone around Batadrava, the birthplace of 15th-16th century saint-reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva who propounded neo-Vaishnavism.

Batadrava than:

• Batadrava, which is in Nagaon district, is about 130 km east of Guwahati.
• The land within the 8 km radius around  Batadrava Than will be conserved for khilonjia (indigenous people) only.
• ‘Than’ means a sacred place in Assamese society.
  • Batadrava Than is the first Than or the first institution set up by Srimanta Sankaradeva for propagation of EKA SARANA NAMA DHARMA founded by him.
  • He also built the ‘Monikut’ together with Kirtanghar or Namghar and the ‘Cari-Hati’ (four clusters of quarters) for accommodation of his disciples.
  • This full-fledged Than complex came up in 1509. Simhasana or Guru Asana (altar of God) was placed in the Monikut with the holy scripture ‘Bhagavata’ on it without any idol.
• The Thans founded by Srimanta Sankaradeva are Gangmou, Belaguri,Patbausi, Kumarkuchi, Sunpora, and Madhupur.
• Later many Sattras were set up by his followers all over the Brahmaputra valley.
• All these were designed like Batadrava Than. But of all these Thans and Sattras,Batadrava Than is the unique one. Devotees visiting different Thans/Satras as well as the prominent sacred places and temples in Jaganath Puri, Brindavan, Badarikasram, Gaya, Kashi etc. consider Batadrava as one of the principal places of worship.

About Srimanta Sankaradeva:

• Srimanta Sankardev (1449–1568) was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of importance in the cultural and religious history of Assam, India.
• He is widely credited with building on past cultural relics and devising new forms of music (Borgeet), theatrical performance (Ankia Naat, Bhaona), dance (Sattriya), literary language (Brajavali).
• Social contribution:
  • He is considered as the father of the modern Assamese race. He rescued the people of Brahmaputra valley from the regressive medieval practices like human sacrifice.
• Religious contribution:
  • The Bhagavatic religious movement he started, Ekasarana Dharma and also called Neo-Vaishnavite movement, influenced two medieval kingdoms – Koch and the Ahom kingdom – and the assembly of devotees he initiated evolved over time into monastic centers called Sattras, which continue to be important socio-religious institutions in Assam and to a lesser extent in North Bengal.
  • EKA SARABA NAMA DHARMA religion ( Neo- Vaishnavite movement):
    • His religion EKA SARANA NAMA DHARMA is very simple. There is no unnecessary ritual in his order. Srimanta Sankaradeva advocated ‘EKA DEVA, EKA SEVA, EKA BINEY NAHI KEWA’, which means one should worship none but one God, who is Lord Krishna.
    • Batadrava or Bordowa became the centre of his religious activities. As such, Batadrava has been regarded as the Dvitiya Vaikuntha (second heaven).
  • Sankardev inspired the Bhakti movement in Assam just as Guru Nanak, Ramananda, Namdev, Kabir, Basava and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu inspired it elsewhere in the Indian subcontinent.
• Literary and artistic contribution:
  • He has left an extensive literary oeuvre of trans-created scriptures (Bhagavat of Sankardev), poetry and theological works written in Sanskrit, Assamese and Brajavali.
  • Srimanta Sankaradeva used to write scriptures sitting below one Shilikha (Myrobalan) tree near the Kirtanghar. That tree is still alive even after five and half centuries, which is a wonder.
  • He created a classical dance form known both as Sankari dance and Satriya dance. The Sangeet Nâtak Akâdemi of India recognized it as a classical dance form in 2000 AD.
  • Srimanta Sankaradeva also developed a school of classical music, which is named after him. He created as many as 25 Râgas of his own. He was also the first playwright in all modern Indian languages. Above all these, he was the first prose writer in the entire world. He introduced the drop-scene and elevated stage in the world of drama way back in 1468 AD.
  • Srimanta Sankaradeva authored ten plays in his life. These were Chihna Yâtrâ, Patni Prasâda, Kâliya Damana, Keli Gopâla, Rukmini Harana, Pârijât Harana, Janma Yâtrâ, Gopi Uddhava Sambâda, Kangsa Badha and Sri Râma Vijaya.
  • He initiated a new form of painting with his epoch-making drama-festival Chihna-Yâtrâ held in 1468 AD, where he drew the imaginary pictures of heaven to be used as backdrops.