AANA - Srimanta Sankardev Tithi

The Assamese community of Greater Toronto celebrated Srimanta Shankardev Utsav in Brampton. This is the third time, the community organized the event to remember and celebrate the cultural, literary and spiritual contributions of Srimanta Shankardev for the greater Assamese society.

The program started with Bhagabat path, followed by a prayer from Namgosha, a Borgeet and then a few Kirtan Gosha Nam. It was a splendid evening amidst Bhakatas and Bhakatanis from all around the greater Toronto in the ensemble of Khol, Taal and Chaparis. A reverberating Haridhwani blessed the community for the days to come. Prasad was distributed followed by tea and homemade snacks and it completed the typical Nam-kirtan.

After the Nam, the children performed a drama in Assamese. This beautiful drama was written by Rita Barua. It was a very educative and entertaining drama and everybody enjoyed it immensely. Two Borgeets were sung by Uma Talukdar and Nayana Talukdar. The Assamese ladies all came together and performed a wonderful chorus”Runujhunu Runu jhunu…”. Nabya Ranjan Barua arranged the background music for the entire cultural program

The last program was quiz competition amongst the children. The quiz was conducted by Raju Deka. The quiz was based on topics on Sankardev, Assam and its culture. The quiz drew enthusiastic participation and everyone enjoyed immensely. After the quiz, certificates and prizes were distributed among children for their participation in art, cultural and literary program. The eventful day ended with a palatable homemade dinner. The Toronto Assamese community welcomed the guest Dr. Kulendu Pathak and newcomer to Toronto Saroj Barua and family.

On August 22, 2009 the Assamese community in Houston held Sri Sri Xonkordev’s Tithi which happened to coincide with the Great Saint’s actual Tithi. The Assamese Houstonians had celebrated this Tithi sporadically in the past, but this year, there was unanimous agreement to re-establish the tradition of celebrating the Mohapurix’s Tithi every year
with the objective of involving our younger generation in carrying on their cultural heritage.

Ajanta and Rajen Barua graciously opened up their home for the event where families from Dallas and Austin also joined in. Altogether there were more than 75 people including children and adults. The ceremony started with Naam Proxongo followed by Proxad Bitoron and a brief cultural event which was initiated with discussions on Sri Sri Xonkordev’s life and works by 7th grader Arijit Bhuyan (son of Debajit and Pallabita Bhuyan), followed by contributions from Rajen Barua, Rabin Mahanta, and Ashok Baruah. Reema Das and Riju Choudhury rendered melodious borgeets, and the grand finale was a demonstration of Xotriya dance by Dil Deka and Jeena Mahanta with descriptions of the “Mudras” by Dil Deka.
Another highlight of the evening was the scintillating performance by the sibling duo - Meera Das 6, and Prahlaad Das 9 (Susan & Sanjit Das’ children), who rendered a couple of Axomiya geets with perfect pronunciation. The food consisted of the typical Axomiya fare, such as sira-doi, gur, luci, alu-kobi bhaji, ghugni, and ambal. Rajen Barua and
Ajanta were kind enough to compile a leaflet on Sri Xonkordev which was distributed to all.