"Sankardeva Studies in 21st Century"- Akashvani Guwahati's Biggest Annual Presentation from a Listener's Prospective

By:- Prithwiraj Purkayastha, SWL & DXer (Jorhat, Assam)

Photo Curtsy:- Mr. Utpal Dutta of AIR Guwahati

On 23rd August 2017 Assam has celebrated the 448th "Tirobhab Titihi" (death anniversary) of Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankardeva and the state remembered this great saint of the region with deep respect. The patron saint of Assam, Sankaradeva was a versatile genius under whose warmth of mind Assamese culture, literature and society blossomed like a lotus with a thousand petals. 

To mark this occasion like previous two years, this year also Akashvani/ AIR Guwahati, along with its partner stations of the state, has come up with a special LIVE program under the title "Ekabingsha Hotikat Sankaradeva Adhyayan" in Assamese which is meaning "Sankardeva Studies in 21st Century" in English. This program was started in 2015 with extensive coverage celebration of Tithi from Satras and Namghars as well as eminent personality's interview on the subject from Assam as well as other states like West Bengal, Delhi, Odisa, Arunachal, Meghalaya.  

Live from Bardowa Than (Photo- AIR Guwahati FB Page)

This is the third consecutive year Akashvani doing this largest coverage on Sankardeva and I, as a radio listener and due to my interest in the subject listened and monitored this entire program and really appreciate Akashvani's initiative to make this event a successful one. There was a panel discussion with participants like scholar of Sankaradeva Studies Dr. Nirmali Bora Malakar, famous Satria Dance artist Dr. Mallika Kandali, eminent theater artist and play director Mr. Gunakar Devagoswami and music director Mrinalkanti. The discussion was moderated by ace radio personality of Akashvani Tapan Dutta and Rajib Phukan. The panel discussion started with mentioning Kabiguru Rabindra Nath Tagore's love and respect to the saint, which he expressed through his famous lines "Amaro Paranoid Jaha Chay..." quoted by Devagoswami. This, almost four hour long, discussion by the panelists was one of the most beautiful and elaborated discussion on Srimanta Sankardeva I have heard in any media platforms in recent time and the most learning experience ever I had on the subject. The discussion on Sankardeva as a social reformer through his great creations like Satria Dance form, Bargeet, Ankia Bhaona, Mask sculpture and other cultural attributes proved that the saint was not only a religious reformer but his contribution towards rich Assamese culture is priceless. The modern day Assamese culture might have remain incomplete without Srimanta Sankardeva. The panel also expressed their strong concern on Sankardeva's philosophical impact over new generation Assamese, particularly youths, which they strongly recommend as the responsibility of society and media, and urged that both should take some collaborative efforts to take the saint close to the youths of the state. 

The detailed discussion was also accompanied by live comments and participation of Satradhikars (Main Priest of Satras), officials of historic Namghars and eminent personalities from places like Shillong, Dhubri, Majuli, Borpeta, Dhekiakhoa (Jorhat) and Bardua, the birth place of the saint. Among them I loved the conversation of AIR correspondence Khurshid Ahmed with eminent literary person of the state Dr. Nagen Saikia where he expressed his strong support to modernization of Sankardeva Study, specially Bargeet, which as Dr. Saikia opined, is not only a means of spiritual attainment but also a form of cultural integration and means of entertainment too. Another point I really loved to remember was that short elaboration and information given on modernization and development of Odisi Dance form in Orisa by Dr. Mallika Kandali and Dr. Nirmali Bora Malakar and they expressed their opinion that the patron of Satria Dance and Satria culture in the state must follow that great cultural movement to make this great art form to attain more national and international attraction as well as popularity. Over all today's program is a historical production of Akashvani Guwahati and it's partner stations from the state and this will definitely left some impact on the the study of this subject in coming days.

This program was aired live by Guwahati A on MW 729 kHz and FM 100.8 MHz, All India Radio Dibrugarh on MW 567 kHz and FM 100.3 KHz, AIR Jorhat on FM 103.4 MHz, AIR Tezpur on MW 1125 kHz and FM 102.3 MHz and AIR Nagaon FM 102.7 MHz. The Live transmission was between 9.15 am IST (UTC 0345) to 1:40 pm IST (UTC 0810). The program was also heard on a AIR Android app "All India Radio Live" Assamese section and AIR website. I heard this program on MW 567 kHz (AIR Dibrugarh) and put that on Facebook live for my friends and followers. I was doing such FB audio Live streaming for the first time and it was again a nice experience for me. Apart from this I also checked the FM band and found AIR Jorhat with usual very strong signal and AIR Nagaon and AIR Dibrugarh with weak signal carrying this special broadcast in to my home! Hope on coming days Akashvani Guwahati and it's partner stations will come up with more such beautiful and interesting broadcasts on many more topics which directly or indirectly effect building a "real modern Assam". 

AIR Correspondents at Barpeta Satra (Photo:- AIR Guwahati FB Page)

Here is the Akashvani Team who have made this mammoth task an beautiful success story. Producer:- Utpal Dutta, Asstt Director, AIR Guwahati 

Anchors:- Rajib Phukan and Tapan Datta 

Reporters:- 

Barpeta and adjacent satras- Indarjit Das and Simanta Barma

Shillong - Nayan Prasad
Satrachal Satra - Mrinal Kumar Baruah, 

Bardowa - Prabal Kumar Sarma (AIR Nagaon)
Dhekiyakhowa Namgahar ( Prasanta Datta from AIR Jorhat)
Interview with Nagen Saikia (Khurshid Ahmed, AIR Dibrugarh)
Kamalabari Satra ( Tirtha Bhuyan - Guest)
Program Coordinators:- Lohit Deka (Head of Program, AIR Dibrugarh), Sanjay Goswami (AIR Jorhat) and Dr. Debajit Saikia (Principal, Majuli College).
Management:- Asim Kumar Kazi, Ashok Bhattacharya, Rituparna Das.