'Barak Upatyakar Bhatta Sangeet' released in Silchar

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

SILCHAR: A research oriented book 'Barak Upatyakar Bhatta Sangeet' edited by Dr Amalendu Bhattacharjee, a well known folk literature research scholar, was released by Professor Jyoti Lal Chowdhury, in presence of Taimur Raja Choudhury, president, Banga Sahitya o Sanskriti Sammelan, Cachar, Jayanta Deb Roy, secretary, Imad Uddin Bulbul and Gautam Prasad Dutta on dais of Banga Bhavan on Sunday. Giving a brief account of the book, Dr Amalendu Bhattacharjee said Bhatt Sangeet prevalent since the middle ages in this valley 'has been the only source or medium to know all about the happenings around as news papers, radio and television were non-existent.' The composers of songs of this kind of genre gathered information about the incidents of the day and went around towns and villages to relate them. The songs were based on day to day incidents.

Bhatta Sangeet was also known as 'Kabi Gaan,' pointed out Dr Bhattacharjee. Both Hindus and Muslims were part of this glorious tradition. People waited eagerly to know the events taking place in and around them. They narrated exactly what happened without any distortion and exaggeration and admitted they knew not more than presented through their songs. And this earned them respect and admiration of common people and also credibility about their news presentation. With the advent of newspapers, radio and television, Bhatta Sangeet lost its relevance and went into oblivion. In order to preserve this heritage of pride of the valley, Dr Amalendu Bhattacharjee has compiled the songs available in book form and edited them.

Taimur Raja Choudhury said Barak Upatyaka Banga Sahitya o Sanskriti Sammelan has taken the initiative of publishing the book 'Barak Upatyakar Bhatt Sangeet.' After all, 'Our heritage and culture has to be preserved for coming generations.' A number of such books have been published by our organisation without any commercial consideration. Imad Uddin Bulbul, vice president of the Sammelan, appreciated the hard labour and patience of Dr Bhattacharjee in pursuing research based exploratory works. Gautom Prasad Dutta associated with the cultural and literary body too hailed Dr Bhattacharjee for compiling and editing a book that will be a treasure trove of information for research workers. Professor Jyoti Lal Chowdhury summing up the views of the learned speakers said the most striking thing about 'Bhatta Sangeet' was its verisimilitude and coherence of events which made it popular and acceptable to all. It is sad with the advancement of civilization, 'our tradition and heritage are losing relevance in society.'

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