GUWAHATI, Oct 8 - Asam Sahitya Sabha UK (ASSUK) celebrated the 568th Sankar Jayanti on October 1 at Chipperfield Village Hall, London. The Assamese people all over the United Kingdom gathered to participate and paid respects to the Mahapurush. This was stated in an e-mail received here.
The vice president, Manjira Chowdhury held a workshop on naam where she gave a narrative on Kirton with proper guidance on naam prasanga. This workshop was first to be held in the UK and was a great success.
In a traditional manner, naamprasanga led by Manjira Chowdhury, accompanied by Rishi Chowdhury on �khol� and �nagara�, �bhortal� by Tarun Chowdhury created a real naamghar atmosphere in a London suburb. Following the distribution of maahprasad there was a very entertaining quiz on Sankaradeva conducted by Manjira which was joined in by a very cheerful crowd.
The president Lahori Barthakur started the cultural programme with a welcome speech where she thanked the people who attended the event. Tarun Chowdhury gave a speech explaining his views on Sankaradeva�s activities. ASSUK�s treasurer Geetutpala Shah sang a �Totoy�; Mayapee, Samyami, Rishii, from �Rishi Arts� stunned the audience with their spectacular music performances.
The chief guest Georgia Pope, an ethnomusicologist from King College, London gave a wonderful speech on Mahapurush Sankaradeva and also sang a satriya song with satriya hasta mudras. She went to Kamalabari Satra in Majuli for her research work on Sankaradeva. She was instrumental in bringing the monks of Majuli to the recent exhibition of Assam in the British Museum. Her son Robin Joe, only two -and-a-half years old mesmerised everyone with his satriya dance and his magical performance with the help of mother�s singing were enchanting. Melody singers Gita Sharma and Bhabani Kakati sang �Borgeet� and devotional songs.
The ASSUK�s secretary Geeta Borooah ended the cultural programme by offering vote of thanks to the audience for their support and to the artistes who made the evening a memorable great success.
