Echoes of My Mind

The Hindu : FEATURES / FRIDAY REVIEW : On a pan-Indian stage

The Hindu : Arts : Splendid saga

The Hindu : FEATURES / METRO PLUS : Dharani Kalotsav

By: Anwesa Mahanta The Bhakti Movement in Assam is a significant episode in the socio-cultural history that opened up wider vistas of human experience and directed ways of translating thoughts and ideas into physical reality. Led by Srimanta Sankaradeva, (1449-1568), saint and preacher, poet and playwright, philosopher and reformer, artist and composer (“all rolled into one” as described by Vasudev Saran Agrawal) the Bhakti Movement in Assam brought a ‘new comprehensive outlook on life, a distinctly healthy tone to social behavior with an all pervasive organizational set up, and accelerated the pace of literature and the fine arts.’ (Maheswar Neog). Most importantly, it broke the straitjacketed version of the philosophical doctrine as a reign specified to crème de la crème and spread the emissions of enlightenment to the general masses which surcharged the popular emotional layers with intense devotion. Whether it is Bhaona, or any other form of fine arts, the intention of general mass