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Srimanta Sankaradeva

  • Context (IE): Rahul Gandhi was prevented from visiting Assam’s Batadrava Than.

About Batadrava Than

  • Batadrava Than is located in the Nagaon district of Assam, 130 km east of Guwahati.
  • The Than is situated at the birthplace of Vaishnavite reformer – Srimanta Sankardeva (1449-1568).
  • It is considered the most sacred site for Assamese Vaishnavites.
  • Sankardeva founded the first-ever Kirtan Ghar (Than/Sattra) at Bordowa (Batadrava) to preach and propagate ‘Ek Saran Naam Dharma’ (the neo-Vaishnavite faith).
  • The land within the 8 km radius around Batadrava Than is conserved for Khilonjia (indigenous people).
  • Than means a sacred place in Assamese society.

Srimanta Sankaradeva

  • Srimanta Sankardeva was an Assamese polymath:
    1. A saint-scholar,
    2. Poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist,
    3. Social-religious reformer and
    4. A figure of importance in the cultural and religious history of Assam.
  • Polymath: A person who knows a lot about many different subjects.
  • Sankardeva is credited with building on past cultural relics and devising new forms of-
    1. Music (Borgeet),
    2. Theatrical performance (Ankia Naat, Bhaona),
    3. Dance (Sattriya),
    4. Literary language (Brajavali).

Social Contribution

  • He is considered to be the father of the modern Assamese race.
  • He rescued the people of Assam from regressive medieval practices like human sacrifice.
  • He promoted equality and fraternity and advocated for a society free from:
    1. Caste distinctions,
    2. Orthodox Brahmanical rituals, and
    3. Sacrifices.

Religious Contribution

  • The Bhagavatic religious movement (Ekasarana Dharma) influenced two medieval kingdoms:
    1. The Koch and
    2. The Ahom kingdom.
  • His teaching focused on prayer and chanting (naam) instead of idol worship.
  • Sankardev inspired the Bhakti movement in Assam.
  • Sankaradeva advocated ‘EKA DEVA, EKA SEVA, EKA BINEY NAHI KEWA’, which means one should worship none but one God, who is Lord Krishna.
  • It focussed on worship in the form of bhakti (devotion) to Lord Krishna through singing and congregational listening.

EKA SARANA NAMA DHARMA Religion (Neo-Vaishnavite movement)

  • His religion, EKA SARANA NAMA DHARMA, is straightforward. There is no unnecessary ritual in his order.
  • Batadrava, or Bordowa, became the centre of his religious activities. Batadrava has been regarded as the Dvitiya Vaikuntha (second heaven).
  • His dharma was based on the four components of:
    1. Deva (god),
    2. Naam (prayers),
    3. Bhaktas (devotees), and
    4. Guru (teacher).
 Thans/Sattras
  • The assembly of devotees of the Neo-Vaishnavite movement evolved into monastic centres called Thans /Sattras.
  • These were established as centres of religious, social and cultural reforms in the 16th century.
  • These are present in Assam and, to a lesser extent, in North Bengal.
  • Batadrava Than was the first Than set for the propagation of EKA SARANA NAMA DHARMA.
    • Other Thans founded by Sankaradeva are Gangmou, Belaguri, Patbausi, Kumarkuchi, Sunpora, and Madhupur.
  • Later, many Sattras were set up by his followers all over the Brahmaputra valley.
  • It has a naamghar (worship hall) as its nucleus and is headed by an influential Sattradhikar.

Literary and Artistic Contribution

  • He has left an extensive literary work of trans-created scriptures (Bhagavat of Sankardev), poetry and theological works written in Sanskrit, Assamese and Brajavali.
  • He used to write scriptures sitting below one Shilikha (Myrobalan) tree. That tree is still alive even after five and half centuries, which is a wonder.
  • He created a classical dance form known as both the Sankari dance and Satriya dance. The Sangeet Nâtak Akâdemi of India recognised it as a classical dance form in 2000 AD.
  • He also developed a school of classical music, which is named after him. He created as many as 25 Râgas of his own.
  • He was also the first playwright in all modern Indian languages.
  • He was the first prose writer in the entire world. He introduced the drop-scene and elevated stage in the world of drama way back in 1468 AD.
  • He authored ten plays in his life.
  • He initiated a new form of painting with his epoch-making drama festival Chihna-Yâtrâ, where he drew imaginary pictures of heaven to be used as backdrops.

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