Legacy and evolution of Sattriya dance celebrated

The 16th Rasheswar Saikia Barbayan Sattriya Dance Award and the 56th Annual Festival of Dance were held recently in Guwahati by Sangeet Sattra in honour of its founder principal, Adhyapak Rasheswar Saikia himself, and were a rich fare.

- TAPATI CHOWDHURIE

Rasheswar Saikia has been a pioneer in teaching the girl child to learn Sattriya dance, which was an absolute taboo in the intimate space of Sattras.

The festival provided me with an opportunity to interview some practitioners, both veterans and the young, to examine its present state since it had been declared a classical dance form by Sangeet Natak Akademi 24 years ago.

I could see for myself that the form is taking big steps towards enriching itself from what it was when it had still not come out of the Sattra precincts.

Years of nurturing will make it more sophisticated, polished, vibrant, rich, popular and sparkling.

Most importantly, it is a living art form with more than 750 different Sattras in Assam, and Sattras recognise Borbayans and Bargayans as the repository of devotion as a way of life through music and dance.

In today's world of strife and violence, the need of the day is to go back to one's roots, where, other than Bhakti, or devotion and love, nothing else matters.

The most distressing trend in present times is that monks of Sattras opt out in search of better prospects, which prevents them from displaying their brilliance in proliferating devotion and art alongside the practitioners outside the Sattras.

Sattriya music too is unique. It has its own identity with its indigenous raga and tala patterns, which are followed by practitioners to represent the form in its truest essence.

From a mere 9 tala system, presently it has 38. It has around 30 ragas.

These are sung in Assamese or Brajawali language and are an integral part of Sattriya dance.