GUWAHATI, May 22 - The 473rd birth anniversary of Badala Padma Ata would be celebrated at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra and the Rabindra Bhawan here with a three-day programme from June 13 next.
According to the Sree Sree Badala Padma Ata Purushar 473tama Janma Jayanti Udjapan Samiti, Guwahati, the organisers of the celebration, on the occasion, a prototype of a sattra (the Neo-Vaishnavite monastery of Assam) would be set up at the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra to give the people an idea of the sattra and its functioning.
The plays written by Srimanta Sankaradeva and his apostle Madhavadeva to spread the Neo-Vaishnavite religion would also be enacted at both the Srimanta Sankaradeva Kalakshetra and the Rabindra Bhawan during the celebration. A cultural festival is also planned as part of the celebration, said the organisers.
Badala Padma Ata was the saint who had set up 24 sattras in Upper Assam, including the Kamalabari Sattra in Majuli, in accordance with the instructions of Madhavadeva. These sattra institutions played stellar roles in preserving and spreading the Neo-Vaishnavite religion and Sattriya culture.
The Sree Sree Badala Padma Ata Seva Samiti, Assam, has been celebrating the birth anniversary of the Vaishnavite saint for the past 19 years in various parts of the State in association with the local celebration committees.
