Skip to content Skip to navigation

Raas Leela enthralls Kalakshetra

By Prantik Deka |

Undeterred by the Covid pandemic, audiences turned up in huge numbers to watch this year’s edition of Sampurna Raas Leela, where the combination of tradition and innovation came into full flow during the year’s two-day festival. As with the previous years, this year too, the husband-wife duo of Basanta Kumar Baruah and Bobby Sarma Baruah successfully organised Raas Leela on December 19 and 20, under the banner of BB Creation in collaboration with the Directorate of Cultural Affairs Department, Government of Assam, on a grand scale at the Srimanta Sankaradeva International Auditorium, of the Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, Guwahati. Entering into its 12th year, BB Creations - the state’s premiere socio-cultural group, has retained much of its vitality in presenting a superbly mounted production, keeping intact the essential values of every other element. 

The cultural extravaganza has been an invaluable addition to the city's cultural calendar that has attracted people from all walks of life since 2009. Being the pioneer in bringing Bhaona in the National and the International arena, Basanta Kumar Baruah, the producer and director of Sampurna Raas Leela and Mancha Bhaona, has been playing a defining role in incorporating and promoting the state’s indigenous tribal communities to perform Raas in tribal dialects. In the course of his journey, he has changed the whole concept of Bhaona, bringing about a cultural revolution. He has been relentlessly carrying forward the very beliefs and ideals of the great saint Srimanta Sankaradeva. Baruah deserves much praise and appreciation for involving different sections of the society, yet, at the same time, preserving the ethics and values of the age old traditions of the Sattriya heritage. It has helped in bridging the gap between the communities and creating inner harmony and strength. BB Creations had assimilated different ethnic communities like the Bodos, the Karbis, the Deuris, the Mishings, the Rabhas, the tea-tribes, and the Nepalis, motivating and providing them with a perfect platform to perform Raas Leela in their own dialects. However, this year, they were unable to assimilate any ethnic group to perform Raas due to the Covid-19 situation in the country. But despite that, the grand spectacle succeeded in arousing audiences interests once again. They also hope to absorb and assimilate all the 26 tribes of Assam into their cultural framework in the future. 

The opening day of the Sampurna Rass Leela on December 19 was inaugurated by the President of BB Creation, Himangshu Sekhar Das, the state’s former chief information commissioner in the presence of Prasanta Buzarbaruah, B. Kalyan Chakravarthy, Principal Secretary-Elementary Education, Assam, Dr Jagadish Patgiri, former General Secretary of the Asom Sahitya Sabha, filmmaker Dr Bobby Sarma Baruah, Sudarsan Thakur, Secretary, Kalakshetra Society and other dignitaries, who have showered appreciations on Basanta Kumar Baruah for his contributions towards promoting and propagating the  traditional Sattriya culture. The valedictory day ceremony of Sampurna Raas Leela was inaugurated by the Padmashree, the Akademi Ratna Awardee and well-known Sattriya exponent Jatin Goswami and the Director of Raas Leela, Basanta Kumar Baruah. The show on that day was dedicated in the name of the former Chief Minister of Assam, late Tarun Gogoi. The President of BB Creation, Himangshu Sekhar Das ignited the traditional lamp and paid floral tribute to a newly carved concrete statue of late Tarun Gogoi, which was sculpted by Baruah himself.   
In keeping with the tradition, the souvenir – Monikut, was released by Prasanta Buzarbaruah on the eve of the concluding day programme.

The involvement of various popular artistes from film and theatre added much lustre to the two-day event, attracting a number of audiences, who were charmed by the engaging performances of artistes like Aimee Baruah, Atul Pachani, Manmath Baruah, Alakhya Baruah, Padmarag Goswami, Rimjim Sarma, Gayatri Bora, Ashramika Saikia, Debabrat Dutta, Mun Rajib, Jayanta Phukon, Bipul Baruah,  Bijoy Bora, Alish Sheikh, apart from the presence of an enormous wild tusker engaged in a duel with the child Krishna, and a 14 feet high Bakasura gobbling Krishna up, which made the audiences spellbound. The play involved a lot of traditional masks and costumes, which were elegantly designed. The presentation of the Ananta Sashya, Kanshalaya, Nandalaya, killing of Putana, demon Aghasur, Bakasur, Kaliya Nag and the dance of a giant peacock regaled the audiences.  

BB Creations’ productions have always distinguished themselves with their extravagantly conceived settings, and this time around too, it was no different. The play also owes its success to the painstaking directorial efforts of Basanta Kumar Baruah, who ensured that his vision was faithfully interpreted. Baruah deserves due credit for audaciously hosting an event that has attracted the cosmopolitan viewers of Guwahati even in this pandemic situation. Actually, everyone forgot about the real scenario, as the audiences felt truly involved in the two-day proceedings.   

As informed by Basanta Kumar Baruah, BB Creation is now all set to present the Sampurna Raas Leela in London as soon as things get back to normal.

 

  • 12194 reads

Add new comment

Other Contents by Author

Day boarding centre inaugurated

A day boarding centre with the most modern facility in the region — KidsCareHub, located in Rajgarh, Byelane-1, Chandmari, Guwahati, was inaugurated on January 2 by the state’s noted writer and the Editor of the popular Nandini magazine, Maini Mahanta. A brainchild of founder and CEO, Manashi Das, who is also the Child Development Associate of America’s Ashworth College, Georgia, the centre is a combination of a daycare and an early childhood learning facility for children from 6 months up to 5 years. After spending more than 15 years of her life in different parts of USA and Canada, Manashi developed an urge to impart and share the learning style to her birth place. And this is how she...

‘Siyahir Rong’ in the post-production stage

It has only recently completed its dubbing, but ‘Siyahir Rong’ is already creating a lot of buzz on social media. The upcoming film is based on noted senior political journalist and writer Jitumoni Bora’s acclaimed novel of the same title, which was published in 2016. Based on his own professional experiences of over 25 years, Bora’s powerful and eye-opening work stirred the conscience of the readers with its compelling revelations of the dark truths and sleazy practices in print journalism, which has somewhat dented the reputation of this profession. It was important that this very relevant and thought-provoking story be told through the cinematic medium, because of its...

Bhabananda Deka-Nalini Prava Deka Endowment Lecture held

The 13th Principal Bhabananda Deka-Nalini Prava Deka Endowment Lecture was successfully organised by the Assam Foundation-India in a solemn function held at the Guwahati Press Club, on December 4, 2019. The function also coincided with the release of three books – Principal Bhabananda Deka Rachanawali, Nalini Prava Deka Rachanawali, and Arnab Jan Deka Natyawali – a compendium of the stage and radio plays written by popular storywriter-novelist Arnab Jan Deka. The programme was presided over by Dr Narendra Nath Sarma, eminent historian and former Professor and Head, Department of Library and Information Science, Gauhati University, and attended by noted personalities like actors Pranjal...

Adventure reality show : ‘mountain warriors’

The shooting of a mega TV series on an adventure reality game show is now in progress at the city’s landmark location of Ranibagan in Beltola Tinali, Guwahati. Produced by Hawksbill Productions, the project ‘Mountain Warriors’ has been sanctioned by Doordarshan, New Delhi, under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and will be telecast by the newly-launched satellite channel Arunprabha. The reality-based show, which saw the participation of contestants hailing from different parts of the North-East, has been produced and directed by Vikeyeno Zao, who has earned a name for herself as an acclaimed documentary filmmaker. Born and raised in the hilly town of Kohima, belonging to the...

Priceless volume ‘Xuaroni Bhaibhav’ released

A true and sincere devotee of the great saints – Srimanta Sankardeva and Sri Sri Madhabdev, the renowned Vaishnavite preserver of Sattriya culture and a philanthropist, the late Dalim Pathak’s charitable nature is manifest in the establishment of a number of social-cultural organisations in the State. On the occasion of his first death anniversary, a co-memorial book – Xuaroni Baibhav – was released by noted cultural activist, writer, dramatist and actor Ratna Ojha in a function held at the Bhabendra Alay in Beltola, Guwahati, recently. The book’s remarkable collections of essays, in addition to memoirs and speeches, in both Assamese and English, complemented by photographs, is a...

Audio Album ‘Jiya Anubhuti’ Released

In a tribute function, coinciding with a day-long programme, held to mark the 8th death anniversary of Bharat Ratna Dr Bhupen Hazarika as well as the birth anniversary of noted litterateur, lyricist, dramatist and musician Sushil Kumar Rai, an audio album containing nine lilting modern tunes entitled ‘Jiya Anubhuti’ was released by noted musician Anupam Choudhury in Dudhnoi recently. Produced under the banner of PKD Production, the compassionate album, conceptualised by Kripamoy Das, contains the wonderful lyrics of Sushil Kumar Rai, including Swagatam Samagata he Shudhigon, Jiri Jiri Nijarai, Lajuki Lata mur kotha kuwa, Mur Mondirot tumar arati, among others, which were rendered to...

‘An Inspector Calls’ to be staged on Nov 27

After a long gap, the Assam chapter of Indian People's Theatre Association (IPTA) will present a new Assamese play in the form of ‘An Inspector Calls’ on November 27, 2019, at the Kumar Bhaskar Natya Mandir, Uzanbazar, Guwahati, for the theatre lovers of the State. IPTA, which has worked for the development of humanity through culture since 1947, has produced a number of famous plays like ‘Xunali Dhanani’, ‘Seujia Kuhipaat’, ‘Tofaan’, ‘Navaprabhat’, ‘Sapasalor Seka’, etc, and many shadow plays like ‘Poharaloi’, ‘Amar Jatra’, ‘15 Augustor Ahbaan’ and ‘Tirut Singh’, which were unanimously praised by the masses. Hemango Biswas, the founder secretary of the Assam chapter, worked with some of...

Nature’s Melody

With its roots firmly planted in tradition, the unique Bongeets created by Bonkonwar Anandiram Das have been seeing a cultural revival of sorts in the State. These heartfelt songs, which spring from a beautiful blend of Bihu tunes with other native songs, resonated with the people, irrespective of age or musical preference. Among those handful of artistes who have been playing an important role in preserving and promoting these gems, is the State’s eminent singer Munindra Kumar Saikia, who is also an important member of Jubatirtha – a cultural organisation which has been organising workshops and seminars on Bongeets for a number of years now. His deep eagerness to learn and imbibe the...

Art, Beyond Borders

A prolific novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, screenplay writer, documentary filmmaker, columnist, TV actor, river engineer, eco-technocrat all rolled into one, Arnab Jan Deka’s wide-ranging literary interests led him to start writing fiction just at the end of the twentieth century, and two leading Assamese literary journals – Prantik and Goriyoshi, firmly established his reputation as a serious story-writer in Assam. “My first Assamese short story collection in addition to my first novel got published in 1999, and both saw unprecedented success and were runaway hits among readers,” the celebrated author recalls.   And within the next two decades, his short stories and...

Jatin Bora's 'ratnakar' to release in October

Making his comeback after 13 years as a filmmaker, actor Jatin Bora is gearing up to present his new film ‘Ratnakar’. The much anticipated big-budgeted film, produced under the banner of JB Films, will hit the screens on October 11, soon after the conclusion of Durga Puja. The need of the hour is to provide meaningful entertainment so that the audiences in Assam go back to the theatres. Jatin Bora has assured that his venture is not a run-of-the-mill Assamese film but promises something more. Depicting three different stages of a man’s life, the film is built around a father-daughter relationship, which has not been adequately explored in Assamese cinema. The film boasts of a number of...