Assam: President confers Padma awards on three cultural icons of state

Padma Bhushan to Jatin Goswami; Padma Shri to Reba Kanta Mahanta, Gita Upadhyay

Guwahati: President of India Droupadi Murmu conferred the Padma Bhushan to veteran Xatriya dance exponent Jatin Goswami and the Padma Shri to Xatradhikar of Khatpar Satra, Reba Kanta Mahanta, and distinguished writer, translator, academician and social worker Gita Upadhyay in the fields of Art, Art and Literature and Education respectively, from Assam. The Padma awards were presented during the Civil Investiture Ceremony in New Delhi today.

Jatin Goswami, the founder and chief director of Sattriya Akademi, a pioneer institute of Xatriya dance in Guwahati, is a veteran Xatriya dance exponent who is widely recognized for his role in the growth and development of Xatriya dance. He has made the dance form popular inside and outside Assam.

Born on August 2, 1933, Goswami started receiving basic education of Xatriya culture under the guidance of his father, who was also one of the great Xatriya artistes of his times. He learnt the Xatriya dance under the guidance of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award winners Late Maniram Dutta Muktiar and Late Roseswar Saikia Bar Bayan hailed from Sri Sri Kamalabari Satra. He became well trained up in the multi-coloured Assamese folk songs, dances and Ankia Nat (Bhaona) under the guidance of Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha. He first presented Ankia Nat on the modern stage, and he is the first and only person to form a mobile cultural group for the performance of Xatriya dance and Ankia Nat Bhaonas. He also imparted training in Xatriya dance to various mobile theatre groups of Assam.

Goswami articulated and designed several compositions of Xatriya dance, for which the dance form has got immense popularity. He has led key initiatives for promoting the dance form. He served as a member of the General Council of Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi. He was also a member of the Expert Committee of I.C.C.R., North East Zonal Cultural Centre, etc.

Goswami is the recipient of numerous awards and honours. The Government of India conferred on him the Padma Shri in 2008. He received the Sangeet Natak Akademi award in 2004 for his outstanding contributions to Xatriya dance. The Government of Madhya Pradesh conferred on him the Kalidas Samman in 2017. He was conferred Akademi Ratna (Fellow) by Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi, in 2019. In 2002 he was honoured with the Bharatiyam Samman by the E.Z.C.C. Department of Tourism and Culture, Government of India. He was awarded the Best Dance Director award by the Government of Assam for 1997-98.

Recipient of the Padma Shri, Reba Kanta Mahanta, the Xatradhikar of Khatpar Satra, Sivasagar, Assam, is known for dedicating his life to the services of xatras and Xatriya culture and occupies a distinguished place in Xatriya mask making and promoting Mukha Bhaona (a dance drama where the actors play their roles wearing masks).

Born on April 19, 1935, Mahanta learnt the art of making masks and performing Mukha bhaona from his Xatradhikar father. He took the initiative to establish Hahchara Girls' High School and retired as a headmaster in 1996. He served the District Sattra Mahasabha as General Secretary for 27 years and President for 2 years. He is a lifetime member of Axam Xahitya Xabha and Satra Mahasabha. He has written many articles on religion, culture and mask making in various newspapers, magazines and souvenirs.

Mahanta has established a unique museum on his own xatra campus which reflects the artefacts, musical instruments, masks, etc. related to Xatriya culture, and this museum attracts the footfalls of different visitors and tourists from different places of the state and country and even from abroad also. His artistic creations are also being displayed and demonstrated in different institutes, museums and universities, etc. In 1989, on the invitation of the Craft Council of India, he took part in an exhibition cum workshop at Eden Garden, Kolkata, about mask making and its uses, and from the exhibition, 5 masks were taken to distant Russia and Japan to preserve in their museums. His masks were procured by Indian Museum, Kolkata; National Museum, Washington; and IGNCA, New Delhifor preservation in their respective museums. In 2016, Tezpur Central University procured one huge mask of Narasingha (Bormukha) for demonstration and preservation in its museum. In 2017, by using different types of masks, he built a welcome gate at Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati, which wore a global look at that time. In 2018, Australia procured 2 masks for demonstration and preservation in their museums.

Mahanta has been honoured by the Government of Assam and the Government of India with various awards. In 2003, the Government of Assam awarded the State Award for Excellence in Handicrafts. In 2008, he received the Shilp Guru Award from the Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. In 2015, the Government of India honoured Sangeet Natak Academy Award for his excellence and pioneering works. The government of Assam awarded Bishnurabha State Award in 2019 for excellence in mask making. In the long span of his life, at the age of 90 years, he has received felicitation and encouragement from more than 100 organizations.

The other Padma Shri recipient from Assam, Gita Upadhyay, is a distinguished writer, translator, academician and social worker. A teacher by profession, she is known for her literary works in both Assamese and Nepali.

Born on February 14, 1939, Upadhyay, after completing her secondary education at Behali High School, went to Guwahati to pursue higher education. She received her bachelor's degree from Handique College and then went on further to pursue a master's degree in political science from Guwahati University. Notably, she is the first woman from the Gorkha community in Assam to achieve this academic milestone. After that she was appointed as a teacher at Sibsagar College and retired as Head of the Department (Political Science) after 30 years of service.

Upadhyay's literary works include two of her Sahitya Academy Award-winning literary works, such as Janmabhoomi Mero Swadesh, a biography of Gurkha freedom fighter U. Sri. Chabilal Upadhyaya, and Dorbar ki Susart, a Nepali translation of Assamese play by renowned poet Jyoti Prasad Agarwala. Her earliest publication includes Nepali and Assamese translations of the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank in 1972. After that, she went on to translate Nepali poet Bhanubhakta Acharya's Ramayan in Assamese (1987). Her other translations include Muna Madan (Nepali to Assamese, 1998), Kata Suruj (Nepali to Assamese, 2008), Bhumiputra (English to Assamese, 2008), Karamveer Dhan Bahadur Nij Abhiyaktir Dapunat (Nepali to Assamese, 2008) and Abhiyatri of Nirupama Borgohain (Assamese to Nepali, 2010). Her notable original works include Ma Moi First Holu (Assamese, 1997), Amma Ma First Bhayert (Nepali, 1998), Nepal Deshar Sadhu (Assamese, 2001), Mandakini Ra Alakananda Ka Tireitir Kedar Bodrisamma (Nepali, 2002), Mahapurush Sankar Deva - Jeevan ra Karma (Nepali, 2003), Suvasit Batah (Assamese, 2004) and Kathanjali (Nepali, 2008).

Through her literary works, Upadhyay has been able to bridge the cultural and linguistic divide between the Assamese and Nepali-speaking people of Assam, thereby facilitating assimilation and harmony between the two communities.

Besides literature, Upadhyay has been active in the field of social work and has actively participated as a member of the Board at Tezpur University as well as a member of the Juvenile Court at Tezpur District Court. (PIB)

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