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.
5 Aug 2008 - 11:39pm | editor
Prabhat Sarma, a renowned folk exponent, flutist, music director of Assam, has been admitted into the Intensive Care Unit of Guwahati Neurological Research Centre in Guwahati following a heart...
13 Dec 2014 - 2:31pm | AT News
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi pulls up his sleeves for cabinet rejig. Gogoi is believed to have received green signal for the party high command. Sources told Assam Times that the chief minister would...
9 Mar 2018 - 11:07am | AT News
PRASENJIT SAHAAGARTALA: People start thronging in thousands at the Assam Rifles Ground to catch s glimpse of the ceremony where Biplab Kumar Deb and his 11 colleagues are taking oath on Friday....
11 Feb 2012 - 7:17pm | editor
The Sivasagar district legal authority in association M.C. Club, Rain Tree Club, Women United Forum and Human Welfare Society is organising a legal awareness camp at M.C. Club of Nazira on February...
Our Correspondent Guwahati: A war of word between Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi and peace broker Mamoni Roisom Goswami may put the peace process in yet another logjam. Talking to a vernacular daily on its Monday issue, the award winning writer says she is not satisfied the way Mr Gogoi urges her to rush to Bangladesh. “If need be I am ready to leave for Bangladesh with Rebati but it must be a decent appeal.” “Let the Government make necessary arrangement to go to Bangladesh. I will do it tomorrow itself. But it will not be my personal initiative. The Chief Minister knows: how a top ranked leader of a banned outfit can be met.” She rues that she finds it...
From Our Correspondent GUWAHATI: Development in any form must ensure the well being of the people of all section. But what the Government does these days only to safeguard the interest of the multi national companies. A strong movement is neccessary to stop these style of exploitation in the name of development. These are more or less of what Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA)-pioneer Medha Patkar says at a function at Gauhati University on Sunday. She expressed grave concern over the environment of Assam saying the scenario is at stake due to unilateral action by the Government for construction of big dams and industrialization like steps for seismic survey on the Brahmaputra riverbed...
Our CorrespondentGUWAHATI: Caught in a controversy over the imposition of President’s Rule in Assam, former Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta ridicules that the sitting Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi does not know what is there in the provisions of Article 355 and 356 of the Constitution.Addressing a press conference in the city on Sunday, Mr Mahanta says, without undertanding the previsions of these Articles, Mr Gogoi is attacking me and my party time and again.”According to the AGP(P) supremo, the state’s law-and-order situation is totally dismal and now it is more serious then what it was during his tenure.Mr Gogoi has been failing to deal with the situation these days...
The legacy of Assam’s culture would be a lot less enriching if we overlook the contribution of the legendary Shri Jyotiprashad Agarwalla. Similarly there are many other non Assamese in Assam who are more Assamese than many Assamese themselves.Assam is not by the Assamese alone but it is a conglomeration of various communities, tribes, sects etc. It’s a melting pot of many cultures.. Assam’s present status its economy would not be what it is without the contribution of the entire society irrespective of what language they speak and which community they belong to. Therefore the recent spate of killings of non Assamese people comes as a shock to every Assamese and saddens him...
The President of India is elected by an electoral college, comprising the Members of both the Houses of Parliament as well as the MLAs of all state Assemblies. The total number of members in the Electoral College for the Presidential elections in 2007 is 4896 (233 Rajya Sabha MPs + 543 Lok Sabha MPs + 4,120 State MLAs). However, unlike any other election, the value of votes of the voters are different here. While the value of votes of each MP is the same, the strength of a vote of an MLA is determined by way of proportional representation. The MPs, too, have a specific value for each vote that is determined by dividing the total value of votes of all the states by the total number...
New Delhi: The Congress High Command sprung a surprise for the Presidential Elections in India scheduled on 19th of July 2007. Ms Pratibha Patil has been nominated by the Ruling UPA- Left combine as their nominee for the highest post in India. Pratibha Patil has formerly served as Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha besides being the Governor of Rajasthan and a minister in Maharashtra. Ms Patil is married to Devisingh Shekhawat of Losal Chhoti, barely 30 km from the Vice-President's village Khachariawas in Rajasthan. This brought to an end the hectic parleys that have been taking place in the ruling coalition over the last few days. The decision was reached in a meeting between the...
Did you know that there was an Act banning sale of egg-bearing fishes? Ministers of Assam really seem to be looking into records and Acts. The Assam Fisheries Act, 1953 prohibits sale of egg-bearing fish during the breeding seasons i.e. between April 1 and July 15 every year. The Act was put in place to ensure that the fish production in the State goes up. According to an official press release here, Fisheries Minister Nurjamal Sarkar has directed the district and police administrations all over the State to strictly enforce the Act and to take ensure that it is fully implemented. The Minister is of the view that this would lay the foundation for a blue revolution in Assam And yes the...
Guwahati : The Assam United Democratic Front has distanced itself from its MLA Rasul Haque Bahadur who had demanded creation of an autonomous council for the minorities of Golapara, Barpeta, Dhubri, Bongaigaon and Darrang districts. Mr Badruddin Ajmal, President of AUDF has said that a Central Executive Meeting of the party would be convened where Haque would be asked to explain his statement. Ajmal further clarified that the party would never subscribe to these views as it did not believe in development of all the people in the State and not only of the minority community.
Some 28 candidates will apply for the top job at ONGC. A search panel headed by the Public Enterprise Selection Board (PESB) Chairman, Mr N.K. Sinha, held interviews on June 5-6 to select the Chairman and Managing Director of the exploration giant. The interviews assume significance as the names of earlier candidates short-listed after interviews conducted by the PESB in August 2006 were returned by the PMO. Those in the race for the job include Mr R.S. Sharma, acting Chairman of ONGC; Mr A.K. Balyan, Director (HR); Mr A.K. Hazarika, Director (Onshore); Mr D.K. Pande, Director (Exploration); Mr U.N. Bose, Director (Technical Services); and Mr R.S. Butola, Managing Director, ONGC Videsh....
India's information technology sector would require nearly 500,000 professionals in the next five years to cater to the growing needs of this booming industry, Mr Kiran Karnik, president National Association of Software and Service Companies said. Currently, the industry required 300,000 professionals, however the number was expected to nearly double with the sector being poised for huge growth, he said during the inauguration of the country's first IT finishing school. Though the institutes churned out a huge number of engineering graduates, the industry was left with less than 300,000 professionals to hire from, since many of them turned entrepreneurs, some sought jobs overseas...
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