[Assam] More on Xo,So, and Confusion of Kharkhowa Intellects

Sun Sep 17 15:34:53 EDT 2006

I agree there is no consistency. JP Rajkhowa wrote this, and I was just
thinking whether the Sentinel just printed what JPR wrote or did the
Sentinel Transliterate on its own?

--Ram

On 9/17/06, Chan Mahanta <cmahanta at charter.net> wrote:
>
>  This is from today's Sentinel. I just read a couple of lines,. So I have
> no comments on the substance of the article, if there is any. But look at
> the thoroughly confused state of transliteration:
>
>
> Mahapurusia Xatras  ---* HUH?*
>
>
> Mahapurusa Srimanta Sankaradeva
>
>
> Eka Sarana Nama Dharma  (What language is this? Certainly not Sanskrit, is
> it?)
>
>
> Xatradhikar (* why not Satradhikara?*)
>
>
> Patbausi
>
>
> Asomiya
>
>
> Kirtanghosa, Namghosa (* Why not Kirtanaghosa and Mamaghosa?*)
>
>
> So on and so forth.
>
>
> (Highlighting mine)
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________
> _________
>  Ensure Security & Development of the 'Mahapurusia Xatras'
> JP Rajkhowa
> The institution of Xatra, established by Mahapurusa Srimanta Sankaradeva,
> was responsible for stabilizing and spreading the new faith - Eka Sarana
> Nama Dharma or neo-Vaisnavism, which evolved democratic practices, in
> running its affairs and was totally devoid of any caste or class
> distinctions. Sankaradeva set up the first Xatra (called Sthan or Than) near
> his ancestral village at Bardowa, about 1494 AD. Later, Xatras grew up at
> all places, where Sankaradeva stayed, during his movements from Bardowa to
> Gangmou and thence to Dhuyahati in Majuli, and thereafter to Barpeta and
> thence to Patbausi. The Xatras were started as centres of learning and
> education, besides symbolizing, as the guardians of religion and morality.
> The Xatradhikar must be a man of intellectual and spiritual enlightenment,
> and it became a custom with every Xatradhikar to perform a play (Bhawna)
> composed by him, on his accession to superior-ship. The bhaktas or devotees
> lived under the guidance of the Xatradhikar, and the celibates were properly
> trained or educated for a monastic life. Regular nama-prasanga, recitation
> from religious texts, learned discourses, performance of drama or Ankia nat
> on religious theme, classical dance and music (Xatria nritya and Bargeet)
> and skill in some technical arts made the monastic life an ideal way of
> living. The Xatra also played the role of a Panchayat, where cases relating
> to social matters were tried and justice dispensed on religious and social
> controversies.
>  The word Xatra has its origin from the words - 'Xat+Tra', meaning one's
> elevation, from the mundane to the holy sphere, or providing salvation to
> the noble souls. Baikunthanath Bhattadeva or Bhattadeva, the first
> prose-writer in Asomiya, defines it as follows. "Xatra is the place where
> devotional prayers are offered to the Supreme God, by the gods and
> Vaisnavas. It is the place where, the devoted Bhaktas offer various kinds of
> service, for the satisfaction of God and the nine kinds of Bhakti (though
> Sankaradeva primarily emphasized three- sravana, kirtana and smarana, with
> dasya or total surrender to God) are pursued every day. It is the place
> where residing the Vaisnavas engaged in the Nama-kirtana of Hari or Krisna.
> This holy place is called Xatra."
>  Over the past centuries, all these ancient Xatras have been functioning
> as major cultural centres as well, promoting devotional classical forms of
> song, music, dance and drama together with, folk music or light music. The
> bargeets, Kirtanghosa, Namghosa fall in the category of classical music,
> whereas songs used in the plays and other festive occasions, fall in the
> later category. A good number of musical instruments are used in the Xatras,
> which were developed by local talents, initially starting with the khol
> designed by Sankaradeva for the Cihna Yatra play in 1468 AD. Some of the
> famous such instruments, which are still in use, are Kali, Sarenda, Rabab,
> Daba, Kanh, Negera, Sankha or conch, Singa, Dundubhi, Bheri, Gomukh, Tal or
> cymbal of different types, namely, Bhor Tal or Bar Tal, Khuti Tal, Gayan
> Gowa Tal, Manjira or Mandira, Kar Tal, Kai Tal, Ram Tal etc. The different
> Xatria dance forms are Cali, Jhumura, Oja-pali, Sutradhara, Gosain Prabesar
> nach, Bir Prabesar nach, Jamanar nach, Ghetamara, Chatimara, Dutar-bhangi,
> Bahuar-bhangi etc., which are mainly used in the staging of Ankas or Nats,
> known as Bhaona. For staging of the Ankas, the Xatras developed a large
> number of other items, like costume designing and making, jewellery,
> architectural pieces, mukha or musks of different types and sizes,
> artificial weapons for war scenes bows and arrows, spears, swords, gada or
> mace, shields; make-up items like hengul, haital, neel, engar, gerua-mati
> etc. For the purpose of conducting Nama Kirtana and also for running the
> affairs of a Xatra, handicraft items were extensively developed and made,
> namely, guru asana, mayur asana, garudasana, thaga, sarai of different
> designs, ural, ural-mari, khundana, gacha, chatra or umbrella, chaki or
> earthen/brass lamps of different sizes, salita or banti, dunari, needles,
> pachi, kharahi, chalani, dala, kula, kath or mat, bisani or hand fans, tema,
> japa, sanfura, pera or wooden chests and crates, bar-pira, tamuli-pira,
> dola-khatola or palanquin, bar-japi, dolls, sachi pat or hand-made paper,
> tula pat or cotton-made paper, khel nao or sports boat, statues, pictures,
> paintings and handloom products like chadar, gamocha, dhoti etc.,
> sericultural items muga, pat and eri chadar etc. and so forth. Most of these
> traditions are still maintained in majority of the Xatras, which have
> continued to enrich the ever-expanding Asomiya culture.
>  From the above presentation, it would be abundantly clear to any one
> that, the integrated Asomiya culture would not continue to grow and shine,
> without protection, preservation and development of the Xatriya culture and
> the hubs called Xatras. It is in this backdrop, great concerns are being
> raised by the conscientious and culture loving people, for providing proper
> protection and security to the ancient Xatras, which have been facing the
> ravages and onslaughts from looters, encroachers and other criminal
> elements. It is a known fact, that, the State machineries have not been
> paying due attention to this critical area, due to short-sightedness and
> narrow 'vote bank' politics, of the parties in power. As per recent media
> reports, the Asom Xatra Mahasabha, the apex body of the Mahapurusia Xatras,
> has made an appeal to the Indian Army to take up schemes for their
> protection from encroachment, as well as development. Bhadra Kanta Goswami,
> president of the Mahasabha has reportedly named 14 Xatras, which are in
> urgent need for protection from encroachment and preservation as cultural
> sites. All these institutions are centuries old and were set up by either
> Sankaradeva, or his disciples. The troubled Xatras, which need immediate
> protection from the authorities include Ramrai Kuti Xatra along the
> Asom-Bangladesh border in Dhubri district, Adi Alengi and Bar Alengi Xatras
> in Bihpuria area of Lakhimpur district, Patekibari Xatra (birth place of
> Sankaradeva, popularly known as Alipukhuri) in Morigaon district; Kobaikata
> Xatra (birth place of Harideva) and Bardowa Xatra (set up by Sankaradeva) in
> Nagaon district; Kaljhar Xatra (set up by Gopal Ata); Natun Bhawanipur Xatra
> and Bahari Xatra in Barpeta district; Camaria Xatra (near Boko) in Kamrup
> district; Kakatkuta Xatra (set up by Sankaradeva), Madhupur Xatra (set up at
> the wish of Sankaradeva, where he was cremated also in 1568 AD); Haripur
> Xatra and Bhella Xatra (where Mahapurus Madhabdeva passed away) - these last
> three in Kochbehar district of West Bengal. Xatra-wise details of land
> (within Asom) forcefully grabbed by violent encroachers, mostly Bangladeshi
> immigrants, are as follows:- (1) Ramrai Kuti - 245 bighas (2) Adi Alengi -
> 140 Bighas (3) Bar Alengi - 152 Bighas (4) Patekibari - 68 Bighas (5)
> Kabaikata - 34 Bighas and 3 kathas (6) Bardowa - 120 Bighas (7) Kaljhar - 92
> Bighas (8) Camaria - 115 Bighas (9) Natun Bhawanipur - 22 Bighas (10) Bahari
> - 92 Bighas.
>  In Kochbehar district of West Bengal, the position of encroachment stands
> as (1) Kakatkuta - 208 Bighas (2) Madhupur - 500 Bighas (3) Haripur -45
> Bighas and (4) Bhella - 21 Bighas. These four Xatras, in Kochbehar, were
> granted land under devottar category, by the then Koch king Naranarayana,
> his brother Chilarai and King Lakhi Singha in the 16th century. But the
> encroachment, that has taken place, is of recent origin only, after tagging
> of Kochbehar with West Bengal, following partition of the country in 1947
> after nearly 400 years of 'land grants'. As per information received from
> authentic local sources, the lands of these four Xatras have been gradually
> encroached upon, in a planned manner, under sponsorship of the ruling Left
> front of the State.
>  The appeal made to the Army authorities by the president of Axom Xatra
> Mahasabha, has raised many eyebrows, besides sending ripples to the
> political masters, as, to our knowledge, this is the first instance of its
> kind. The Chief Minister has not taken kindly to such as extraordinary step
> by the Xatra Mahasabha, as reported, since protection, preservation and
> development of this unique cultural institution, very much falls in the
> domain of the State Government. In the normal situation, the Army has got
> nothing to do for removal of encroachment and providing protection to the
> Xatra personnel and properties, though the Army has a scheme called
> Sadvawana under which, it can undertake steps to protect the 'heritage'
> sites, like the Xatras, which have high tourism potential as well. If we
> read through the statements, given to the media, by Bhadrakanta Goswami, we
> find that, only out of sheer despair, due to inaction by the Government
> that, the Mahasabha has made the 'appeal' to the Army. In this context, he
> argues that, since 1985 the Mahasabha has been raising the issue for
> intervention by the Government, but without success. Only very recently, a
> police picket has been posted, in Adi Alengi Xatra in Bihpuria, Lakhimpur
> district, in view of serious threats to the lives of Xatra functionaries as
> well as continued attempts to encroach upon its lands. (The Assam Tribute,
> Sep.6, 2006).
>  In this context, it is to be noted that, the Mahapurusia Vaisnavite Xatra
> Institution, has suffered numerous attacks during post-Independence period,
> by land hungry, intolerant, immigrant Muslims of Bangladesh origin, mainly
> in Goalpara, Dhubri, Barpeta, Kamrup and Nalbari. The attacks that took
> place, together with forceful grabbing of Xatra lands in the Lakhimpur and
> Dhemaji districts are recent phenomena, which are indicative of growing
> fundamentalism, amongst the suspected Bangladeshi or Bangladesh-based Muslim
> immigrant population. No political party in power has done anything so far,
> to evict the encroachers or to give security to the sensitive Xatras, purely
> because of their scare to lose votes from the 'bank.' It is of least concern
> for them, whether Asomiya culture or the Vaisnavite cult of Hinduism, gets
> equal protection of the laws, like any other religion or culture, in the
> 'Secular' India. Hindu religion being the most tolerant and broad-based, as
> it is, there is not a single instance, to my knowledge, when any or more
> followers of the many 'cults' under it, had ever tried either individually
> or collectively, to attack non-Hindu institutions or encroach into their
> land or grab other properties. Again, we have not heard of even a single
> case of the type, committed by the 'Asomiya Musolmans', in the districts or
> pockets, where they have sizable population.
>  It is not that, Xatra lands are facing encroachment problems from
> immigrant Muslims only; there are some instances, where even non-Muslims
> also reportedly, attempted encroachment as in the case of Auniati Xatra,
> Majuli about three years back. I remember to have also taken up with the
> then Commissioner of Cultural Affairs, M K Barua for submission of a
> proposal to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, for protection and
> development of Madhupur and some other Xatras. In line with the discussion,
> I had with the Secretary of the Ministry, I understand that, a proposal in
> respect of 20 very old Xatras, set up by Sankaradeva, Madhabdeva,
> Damodardeva, Harideva and other apostles of Sankaradeva has been forwarded
> to the Centre. As the Centre is duty bound to preserve, protect and develop
> the Asomiya culture by appropriate measures, under Clause 6 of the Asom
> Accord, vigorous actions are required by the State Government, for covering
> all the ancient Xatras, under the Central Scheme in a time-bound manner.
> Meanwhile, clear-cut instructions need to be issued to the district and
> subdivisional authorities, to provide security coverage to all the sensitive
> Xatras, and evict all the encroachers from Xatra lands, irrespective of
> their hues and hand over the same back to the Xatras. Simultaneously,
> wherever the Xatra campus is not properly fenced or walled, the same may be
> done on priority basis. As fund appears to be a major constraint, lead may
> be taken by the Asom Xatra Mahasabha, in association with Srimanta Sankar
> Sangha, Srimanta Sankar-Kristi Bikash Samity, Srimanta Foundation and
> similar organizations at district/subdivisional levels to work out a joint
> strategy and a common forum for funding such Xatra protection/development
> schemes. So far as the 14 Xatras are concerned, the State Government should
> take immediate action to free 10 of those, which are located in Asom, of
> encroachment, provide necessary security and also assist in their
> development under available schemes. In respect of the remaining four, the
> matter needs to be taken up vigorously, at the level of Chief Minister of
> West Bengal, as also with the Centre.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> assam mailing list
> assam at assamnet.org
> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: /pipermail/assam_assamnet.org/attachments/20060917/11907a8d/attachment.htm 