Letters to the Editor: Exploring Raax of Nalbari Hari Mandir

The Raax of Sri Sri Hari Mandir, Nalbari is celebrated in the premises of Hari Mandir in the heart of the town. The festival has a big mela, along with local mobile theater performance, creating a festive atmosphere throughout the town with people even from other parts of the state flocking to see it. Comparable to the Ganpati festival of Mumbai, Dussehera of Mysore, this Raaxs festival is the unifying thread of the otherwise heterogeneous society, as people forget the barriers of caste and creed and get immersed in the spirit of the festival.

Raax festival in Nalbari Sri Sri Hari Mandir has a long history. It was first celebrated in 1933 with the notable contributions of late Amar Kundu, Naren Basu, Gadamalla Baruah, Dandi Ram Mahajan, Bati Ram Deka, Kirti Thikadar, Padmapani Dutta and Bhairab Chaudhuri, among others. They first celebrated Raax at Nalbari Purana Natkhola in 1933 with a brief arrangement. Actually, they first decided to celebrate the Raax in 1931 but cancelled it due to unavoidable circumstances. When they organized the Raax festival at Nalbari town, it got wide response from the people which encouraged them to continue with the festival.

However, at that time the Nalbari Raax was celebrated only as a religious function, but it later turned into a cultural festival due to the growing attraction of visitors. During the initial time, only the Brahmin artistes made the idols of Raax festival as the lower caste persons were not allowed to make the idols of god and goddesses. Later, the lower cast persons were permitted to make the idols but the finishing touch was given by the upper caste Brahmin artistes. Now there is no restriction of making the idols. Looking back for the history it is remembered noted idol maker of Dhurkuchi village late Ambika Nath Goswami made the idols of Nalbari Raax in an attractive manner.

Though the Nalbari Raax was held at Purana Natkhola from 1933 to 1945, it was shifted to the present location after construction of the Nalbari Hari Mandir in 1946. The old site, Purana Hatkhola, was very small to accommodate the growing number of visitors. The foundation of the Hari Mandir, the centre of cultural and spiritual development of the district, was started in 1939 with the donation of four sal piles by Priya Nath Kaviraj of Elengidal village.

Since then, the Nalbari Raax, which later become Raax Mahotsav, has been celebrated uninterruptedly. Although it initially started with a three-day programme which continued till 1949, now it is celebrated with a 13-day-long programme starting from the full moon night of autumn. In 1989, the Raax festival was celebrated with a day-long programme due to the killing of three workers of the committee in a tragic accident and in 1996, it was held for three days due to the opposition of a certain militant outfit. Due to the Covid crisis during the last two years, the Raax festival was suspended too. Hence, this year the celebration is on escalated scale with some more innovative inclusions like Assam Book Fair initiated under Publication Board, Assam and Bharat Mata Pujan by Pragya Foundations. With the aim of cultural exchange and assimilation, this year performers of 'Basanta Raax' of Manipur, 'Mayur-Chadak & Dandia' of Vrindaban and 'Dandia' of Gujarat have been invited to the Nalbari Raax. A Trade-Expo and a Self Help Group Trade Fair are also a part of the attractions.

It is significant that the goal is to promote Nalbari Raax to the height of a national festival. As it is both a matter of pride and sentiment for the people of Nalbari, it is expected that such trend of exploring the new ventures to promote Nalbari Raax will set the trend for the future.

Priyanku Narayan Baruah,

(alwayspriyanku@gmail.com)

An open letter to

student organizations

By taking part (offline/online) in career awareness meetings organized by schools, colleges, various organizations and institutions from time to time and by answering questions on various career topics over phone (09435188630) on every Saturday between 6 pm and 9 pm, I have learned that many students in our state are not aware of career-related matters. The student organizations of Assam can take special steps to solve this problem. "Career awareness workshops" should be made compulsory, if possible along with various programmes at all events organized by Assam's student organizations on various occasions to provide training for preparation for various competitive examinations. Besides, it is necessary to focus on publishing 'career'-related articles along with other articles in the souvenir, which is published on the occasion of the various sessions of student organizations. It will be good if the student organizations will pay attention to these issues.

Dr Buljit Buragohain,

Airport Road, Azara