GUWAHATI, Sept 3 - Assamese culture and civilisation has the unique distinction of carrying certain basic traits of early Aryan civilisation, which are rare to be found elsewhere in the country.
This was observed by Dr Amalendu Chakravarty, head of the Department of Bengali, Gauhati University, while addressing the 32nd foundation day of the Noonmati Sahitya Sabha today.
Dambarudhar Talukdar, writer and organiser, presided over the function.
Chakravarty, in the course of his discourse, dwelt at length on how the great 15th-century saint Srimanta Sankaradeva enriched Assamese language and culture with his monumental contributions.
Analysing the growth and development of Assamese culture, Chakravarty said that the solar-centric Assamese culture accepted and gave due recognition to the contributions of diverse smaller ethnic groups of the entire Northeastern region.
Senior journalist DN Chakrtavartty, who released a souvenir of the Sahitya Sabha and a book, said that while Anandaram Dhekial Phukan, the prophet of Assamese renaissance of the 19th century, visualised the advent of glorious days of a vibrant Assamese nation, left behind the message to be carried forward by a succeeding generations of great Assamese writers and thinkers like Lakshminath Bezbaroa, Chandra Kumar Agarwala, Kamalakanta Bhattacharya, Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Dr Banikanta Kakati.
He called upon the younger writers of Assam to shake off their lethargy and intellectual diffidence and raise the banner of Assam�s glorious culture and literature in the comity of nations.
At the end of the meeting, prizes were distributed for various literary competitions organised on the occasion.
