GUWAHATI: An intensive discourse on the topic 'Madhav Kandali' Assamese Ramayana, a new quest in the light of Indian Ramayani literature, was held on the premises of the South-East Asia Ramayana Research Centre at Mamoni Raisom Goswami Enclave, Natun Sarania Guwahati, recently under the aegis of its Academic Council, which aims at promoting research and providing a platform for young upcoming researchers.
The Madhav Kandali Ramayana is still a challenge for the new researchers. This was noted by Kanak Chandra Sarma during a seminar-cum-interactive session on the vernacular epic. Convened under the directorship of Dr. Sabita Sarma, the programme began with the auspicious mangalacharan by Dr. Nandita Bhattacharya, who also recited two hymns from the Rig Veda.
In his opening remarks, Kanak Chandra Sarma highlighted a few crucial areas of investigation with respect to the Madhav Kandali Ramayana, namely, its critical-textual study, the presence of multiple recensions, authorial interventions into the text, and the geographical-historical positioning of the patron-king Mahamanikya. In the first presentation, Dr. Renu Saikia Bhuyan talked about the social picture of 14th-century Assam as reflected in Kandali's Ramayana. This was followed by Dr. Dhurjjati Sarma's presentation, in which he explored the possibilities of reading the Saptakanda Ramayana as a knowledge text.
Eliza Sarma, in her deliberations, stressed the necessity of exploring the humanistic dimensions of the character of Rama, while Dr. Bijoya Baruah positioned her discussion of the text within the folk life-worlds of Assam. Furthermore, Trailokya Mohan Nath expressed his critical views on the epic structure of Kandali's Ramayana as containing only five cantos instead of seven, while Rajiv Hari Kaushik emphasised the necessity to revive the oral-folk traditions of the Ramayana. In his remarks, Dr. Gautam Sarma expressed the importance of studying the epics through the critical-theoretical methodology of literary studies. As the moderator of the session, Dr. Sanjib Sarma summarised the subject matter of all the presentations and called for more concerted activities regarding the study of this vernacular epic. The programme was expertly coordinated by Dr. Pritima Sharma, who also drew attention to the performance of Kandali's Ramayana through the classical dance forms. The programme ended with a vote of thanks by Dr. Sabita Sarma, the director of the centre, stated a press release.
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