95th annual conference of Srimanta Sankardev Sangha concludes at Tezpur

A CORRESPONDENT

JAMUGURIHAT: The site of the 95th annual conference of the Srimanta Sankardev Sangha, convened by the Tezpur district committee, which concluded on Sunday, turned into an ocean of devotees and visitors who had come from across the corners of the state and abroad. The footfalls of more than two lakh devotees and visitors had turned the Jyoti-Bishnu Samannay Khetra, the Soibari-Naharbari paddy field, into a second Baikunthpuri on the third and final day of the state conference. The sounds of Bhagawat oration, hymns of Dihanaam, Kirtan, Nam Prasanga, Doba-Kah, and Nagara filled the environment with holiness.

The third and last day’s programme began with a cleanliness drive followed by Pratah Prasanga and Naam Prasanga in the morning. Padadhikar Bhabendranath Deka inaugurated the Sangha flag at 9 in the morning along with the hoisting of the 55 flags of the Sangha by the representatives of the district committees. A ‘Bhagawat Bhraman’ and multi-cultural procession inaugurated by the padadhikar started from Jyoti-Bishnu Samannay Khetra and proceeded through Bakola, Katharbari, Muradol, Gerekichuk, Tamulichuk, Salaguri, Panchajanya Khetra, Madhupur, Bogakura, and Panigaon covering a distance of approximately 10 km, and reached the conference site. A total of nearly one hundred fifty teams comprising representations of Assamese, Bodo, Mising, Gorkha, Marwadi, Arunachali, Naga, Deuri, Bengali, and tea tribes and others attracted the attention of audiences. Spectacular replicas and representations of Bhagawat, Kirtan Path, Nam Prasanga, Raax festival, Sati Joimoti, Mukha art, presentation of Zubeen Garg’s musical albums besides demonstration of Sankari art and culture made the procession a spectacular display.

An open session was held at Dharma Ratna Gahan Chandra Goswami and Golak Kakaty Memorial Main Pandal with Bhabendranath Deka, Padadhikar, in the chair in the afternoon. Kamala Kanta Gogoi, Advisor of the Sangha, inaugurated the open session. Kushal Thakuriya, Principal Secretary of the Sangha, read out his annual report followed by the reading of a written speech by Bhabendranath Deka. Gyani Jasbir Singh, on behalf of the Assamese Sikh community, presented ‘Shrestatwa Sanman’ title to Padadhikar Bhabendranath Deka in the open session. It carried a Sikh turban, the Granth Sahib, and ‘Saruwa’.

The open session was attended by Rajani Kanta Dutta as an appointed speaker, Darshit Barua as child speaker, Anirban Chetia as youth speaker, and Mousumi Barua as female speaker. The session was attended by Debabrata Saikia, Leader of Opposition in State Assembly, Padma Hazarika, MLA of Naduar, Utpal Sarma, President of All Assam Students’ Union, Diganta Ghatowal, MLA, Behali LAC, and Rana Pratap Barua, besides others as distinguished guests.

The flag was formally lowered by the principal secretary of the Sangha and handed over to the Lakhimpur district committee of the Srimanta Sankardev Sangha by the padadhikar and the office bearers. Samiran Hazarika then inaugurated the colourful cultural evening.

Also Read: Jamugurihat: 95th session of the Srimanta Sankardev Sangha begins with Naam Prasanga