MAJULI, Nov 9 - The Sri Sri Dakhinpat Satra of Majuli is ready to welcome guests and devotees to its grand and unique Raas festival. Along with the 34 other satras and 54 stages of Majuli, this satra has also almost completed its preparations for the festival.
The Dakhinpat Satra�s Raas has some distinctive and unique qualities and therefore among the many places of Assam, that celebrate the Raas festival, the Sri Sri Dakhinpat Satra�s Raas festival has a distinctive place.
This satra is famous as the birth place of Assam�s Raas festival, as the tenth Satradhikar of this satra, Basudev Goswami is considered by many as the first to observe this festival in this satra in 1840, on the basis of his drama Sri Sri Krishna Devar Raas Abhinay. For this satra, the Raas is not a festival only but also a puja through which the union of soul with the greater soul (aatma and param- aatma) can be seen and felt.
The Raas festival of Dakhinpat Satra has many special characteristics. As the Auniati satra of this river island is famous for its Palnaam Mahotsov, the Dakhinpat Satra is famous for its grand and unique Raas festival.
In this satra, Raas is observed with a three-day programme, and interestingly, each of these days has a name of its own and different kinds of activities are performed on each day. The first day is observed as �Adhibas�. On that day, Raas Puja�s altar is set up, temporary hall is also erected. On that day, dramas are not performed like the in the others. The second day is known as Mul Raas (main Raas) and on that night, dramas are performed. The last day is celebrated as the �Indraabhishek� or �Din Raas� (day Raas i.e., the Raas is performed in the day time). In most other places of Assam, dramas are performed mainly during nights on the three days, but in this satra, this is held in the night only on the second day, known as �Mul Raas�.
This year, on November 13, 14 and 15 will be celebrated as �Adhibas�, �Mul Raas� and �Day Raas� respectively. On the day of �Mul Raas�, from the birth of Mahaprabhu Sri Krishna up to the death of Aristasur and Maharaas is performed through a combination of drama and dance. After the death of Aristasur, the end-song of Raas is sung with the �Dhura Pad�.
The �Day Raas� of the Dakhinpat Satra is very unique as it is not seen in other places. On the dawn of that day, after the offering of daily worship to Mahaprabhu Jadabarai, the worship of Sri Sri Brindaban Chandra (Lord Krishna) is held according to rituals. After that the �Indraabhishek� (installation of Indra) Puja is observed, and the programme of Indraabhishek is performed with the help of drama and dance where the Maharaas dance depicting the destruction of Indra�s pride is acted out briefly. The �Indraabhishek� dance performed in this programme reflects the art of Dakhinpat Satra.