Chord of Harmony: The Sattras & Dargahs of Assam, like the subjects themselves, is actually a reflection of the philosophy of humanism and universal brotherhood propagated by the great saints of Assam, Srimanta Sankardeva and Azaan Pir—a philosophy nurtured and carried forward by the later apostles and followers of both the saints. The Sankardeva movement, spearheaded by the Vaishnavite monasteries called the sattras, not only watered down the system of discrimination on the basis of caste, but also strived to save the society from practices of religious bigotry and untouchability by creating a system of harmonious co-existence. If the sattras remind people of Sankardeva’s contribution to social cohesion and the socio-cultural and literary resurgence in Assam, the dargahs, as the graves of the Muslim spiritual leaders are known, have remained the strongest symbols of the teachings of the Muslim pirs who did come to spread Islam, but stressed on unity among people of all faiths. No wonder, these dargahs spread across Assam are a favourite destination of both Muslims and Hindus, besides people of other faiths. Wasbir Hussain and Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta bring out the stories of these religious leaders who were great unifiers of people by featuring some of the sattras and dargahs.
18 Jan 2012 - 4:46am | editor
Assam paid its glowing tribute to Jyoti Prasad Agarwalla on Tuesday on the 61st death anniversary of the first ever Assamese film maker. Noted artists Apurba Kumar Das and Dilip Ranjan Barthakur...
3 Feb 2011 - 7:21pm | editor
The Election Commission is confident of a free and fair Assembly polls in Assam. Talking to media people in Guwahati on Thursday, Chief Election Commissioner Dr S Y Qureshi said the Commission has...
11 Nov 2016 - 7:51pm | AT News
A Swachch Abhijan drive was carried out at Banglabari Ashurline along the Banglabari Tea Estate today in Kokrajhar district. Over 200 villagers from grater Banglabari area participated the swachch...
2 Apr 2009 - 11:14am | Nanda Kirati Dewan
Bimal Gurung, President Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) – the forefront political party demanding creation of a separate of Gorkhaland in India for establishing the Indian identity of Gorkhas...
The Assam government is set to launch a mega project to reclaim the land the state lost over the years because of erosion. Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi announced it on Wednesday in Sualkuchi where he said that a pilot project is in the pipeline to reclaim the eroded land . He said it will be a first of its kind project as part of the efforts to stop erosion. He hoped that the pilot project to be implemented within six months and if the project is found successful the same technology would be applicable across the erosion-hit state. The land reclamation project will be implemented with the help of Asian Development Bank. Notably, the government has already set up an expert working group to...
Assam and Meghalaya are all set to hold a high level meeting on Thursday to defuse the simmering tension in Langpih. The meeting is slated to be held in the chief secretary level in Guwahati to discuss the recent eviction drive in the area where Kamrup district administration demolished a public hall allegedly built by West West Khasi Hills district administration. Kamrup district administration on Saturday dismantled a community hall of the Hima Raid Mynsaw at Langpih during an eviction drive. A section local residents had started constructing the hall, which was allegedly raided by Assam officials the following day.
Army GOC-in-C Eastern Command Lt Gen Bikram Singh on Wednesday called on Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi as part of his farewell visit to the region. Singh, accompanied by his wife Bubbles Singh, made a courtsey call on the Chief Minister before he leaves Eastern Command to take over charge as army chief. According to reports, there was no agenda of the meeting. It was merely a courtsey call. Singh had arrived at Tezpur on Tuesday, where he was received by GOC 4 Corps Lt Gen Shakti Gurung, and interacted with the troops.
Railway police personnel on Wednesday recovered a huge quantity of high power explosives from a resident of Bihar who was travelling in a general coach of Delhi-bound North East Express at the Guwahati railway station. The explosives including 12 high power gelatin sticks, 12 detonators, and fuse wires were seized during a routine check from a passenger of NE Express. He was identified as Mantu Singh who has confessed that he was carrying the explosives to Bihar after procuring the same in Mizoram bordering Myanmar. These were seized two days ahead of Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s day long visit to Assam to attend the Tarun Gogoi government’s first anniversary of the third...
Over 300 students of a school have fallen ill after they were given iron folic acid tablets on an empty stomach under a National Rural Health Mission scheme in Sonitpur district on Wednesday. The girl students of four schools at Gohpur and one at Tezpur were given the tablets to prevent anaemia under the NRHM scheme but they complained of stomach-ache, nausea and in some cases also vomiting. According to reports, the girls, in the age-group of 10 to 18 years, were administered the tablet on an empty stomach which led to the problem but this was a temporary condition and not very serious.
Six persons were killed over 35 injured when to passenger buses collided head in Lakhimpur on Wednesday. The accident took place in the wee hours. According to police, a Silapothar bound bus collided its head on a Arunachal Pradesh State Transport Service bus on its way to Along. The injured passengers were shifted to the hospital
Petrol pumps across the state are running dry on Wednesday under the impact of the Assam Petroleum Mazdoor Union’s strike demanding adequate security for petroleum drivers. The drivers are away from loading and unloading of petroleum products on Wednesday in protest against the alleged failure of the state government to provide adequate security to petroleum workers. Several organisations resorting to protests, bandhs and other forms of agitations targeting petroleum workers with several tankers being set ablaze by the agitators.
Normal life in lower Assam remains paralyzed because of the 48 hour bandh call by the Akrsu to protest police atrocities and replacement of Bongaigaon superintendent of police within 24 hours. Akrsu alleged that the police had arrived fully prepared to foil their blockade at Rakhaldubi tri-junction of NH 31 (C) and NH 31 in Bongaigaon district on Tuesday. They said initially the police held a discussion with Akrsu leaders to end the blockade by 1pm. There were about 1,500 supporters at the venue. Dhubri district unit vice-president of Akrsu, Biswajit Singha, had also staged a blockade at Ratiadoh under Golokganj police station in the district. Vehicles remained off the road in the lower...
Sudden attack by swarms of venomous spiders strikes panic among the people of Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts during the last couple of days. One person died and several others were injured after they were bitten by these spiders. The spiders were noticed in large numbers after sunset in the first half of May Chaulkhowa Na-Gaon, around 13km from Sadiya. Local residents came to spot these fatal spiders during a Bihu cultural. They started biting many people. Experts call these Latrodectus elegans, a variety of brown spiders, are found in neighbouring Myanmar, China and Thailand. A team of Assam University and Dibrugah varsity is camping in the area to examine the case.
Ulfa will greet Sonia Gandhi with 12 hour bandh when the Congress president will be on a daylong visit to the state on Friday. In a statement sent to media on Tuesday, the Paresh Barua faction of ULFA said that they have given the bandh call from 6 in the morning to 6 in the afternoon to protest the proposed visit of Congress president Sonia Gandhi who is set to attend the anniversary of the Tarun Gogoi government being organized in Sarusajai.
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