Assam

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Akhyai Jyoti Mahanta
The five-hundred-year-old mask-making tradition of Assam is a unique specimen of the region’s culture and heritage. Srimanta Sankardeva, the great socioreligious reformer of medieval Assam, was the pioneer behind the emergence and growth of this craft in the fifteenth century. The mask tradition…
in Module
Abismrita Chakravarty
Jogen Dutta Bayan was initiated into monkhood at the Uttar Kamalabari Sattra but chose to exit the sattra at the age of 39. He emerged as a renowned artist and guru of Sattriya Nrittya and other art forms of the neo-Vaishnavite tradition in Assam. This interview provides a glimpse of his lived…
in Interview
Abismrita Chakravarty
Sattras are monastic institutions of the neo-Vaishnavite tradition that are unique because of their practise of a form of Bhakti that employs dance, music and theatre for the dissemination of religious ideas. Although much has been written about the history of sattras and the art forms that…
in Article
Abismrita Chakravarty
Sattras are monastic institutions of the neo-Vaishnavite tradition that serve as socio-religious and cultural centres in Assam. An integral part of Assamese life and culture, sattras are repositories of the ancient religious philosophy and artistic expressions attached to it. The neo-Vaishnavite…
in Overview
Abismrita Chakravarty
The monastic institutions that belong to the Neo-Vaishnavite tradition of Assam, called sattras, have been critical in preserving a rich cultural heritage and oral tradition. The monks (bhakats) have used the medium of dance, drama and music to disseminate the religious spiritual ideas and are…
in Module
Dr Nilakshi Goswami
Ritualistic worship is a vital part of Indian classical dance and music. The over-600-year-old Sattriya traditions and ritualistic practices associated with medieval Vaishnavite monasteries, or sattras, are integral to the cultural heritage of Assam. They mirror the traditional idioms of the land…
in Overview
Dr Nilakshi Goswami
Assamese reformers Sankardeva and his disciple Madhavdeva occupy a significant position in the 15th- and 16th-century socioreligious history of Assam. By developing literary and performative forms like Sattriya Nritya, they led the social and cultural renaissance in medieval Assam. (Fig. 1)   Fig.…
in Article
Dr Nilakshi Goswami
Prominent Sattriya dancer and choreographer Jatin Goswami has contributed greatly to the development and popularisation of Sattriya Nritya. Now 86 years old, he has, since the 1960s, worked consistently towards propagating this nascent classical dance form. In the process, he established several…
in Interview
Dr Nilakshi Goswami
Sattriya Nritya is one of the classical dance forms of India recognised by the Ministry of Culture. It finds its roots in the neo-Vaishnavite monasteries of Assam, known as sattras. Initially performed by male monks as a ritualised practice within the confines of the sattras, Sattriya Nritya…
in Module
Manan Kapoor
India has a host of harvest festivals, of which Lohri, Makar Sankranti, Pongal and Bihu are some of the more popular ones. However, there are several other similar harvest festivals celebrated by various tribes, regions and cultures that might not be as well known, but are an essential aspect of…
in Article