MAJULI, Feb 8 - The All Assam Ankiya Bhaona Samaroh, 2017 which started on January 28 came to a close on February 4 at the Rajiv Gandhi Sports Complex, Kamalabari.
The weeklong event, aimed at preserving and propagating Ankiya Bhaona, the oldest mythology-based dramatic tradition initiated by Mahapurusha Srimanta Sankaradeva and Madhabadeva in the 15th and 16th centuries, was organised by Sankari Kala Kristi Bikash Samity, Natun Kamalabari Satra, Majuli with financial support from the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) and the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. The event was marked by the participation of as many as 19 drama groups from different parts of Assam which enthralled a bulky gathering that thronged the venue on each night.
Deliberations by experts on various aspects of Ankiya Bhaona in the seminars held during day time lent an extra dimension to the event. The president of the organising committee of the event and noted Vaishnavite scholar and satradhikar of Natun Kamalabari Satra, Narayan Chandra Goswami in a press release offered his gratitude to the IGNCA and the Ministry of Culture, Government of India for their magnanimous gesture in boosting a waning cultural tradition of Assam and expressed his hope that IGNCA and Ministry of Culture, Government of India would undertake similar ventures in future towards promotion and preservation of the multi-faceted and dynamic culture of the north eastern states.
