BARPETA, Aug 25 - The Deka Satriya of Barpeta Satra, an ardent devotee of Satriya tradition and culture, Nabajit Das Pathak left for his heavenly abode in the wee hours today at his residence here following a protracted illness. He was 60.
Born to an expert artiste of naam prasanga late Debendra Nath Pathak, Nabajit Das was initiated into the art of naam prasanga since his childhood, which became an indispensable part of his life.
His voice, during the performance of Thiyanaam and Palnaam, mesmerised the audiences. Besides, he was an expert artiste of Bhaona and Ankiya Naat. Late Das was an accredited artiste of naam of All India Radio, Guwahati. He was entrusted with the responsibility of training Sankari Satriya culture by the Government of India at Andaman and Nicobar Island for one-and-a-half month way back in 1987.
Das gave Satriya performances in several places of the country like Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kochi through Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, Barpeta, Sankaradeva Samaj, Barpeta and Sankari Sanskriti Sewa Sangh.
He dedicated his life towards the expansion and development of Satriya culture after he assumed charge as Deka Satriya of Barpeta Satra in 2009. He was very much active in all the rituals of the Satra. But suddenly he fell ill during April this year and had to undergo open heart surgery in June last. After staying in bed for about three months, he breathed his last around 2.30 am today.
His mortal remains were brought from his residence at Majarhati with a procession accompanied by Gayan Bayan and Kirtaniya and was taken to Sankaradeva Kalakshetra, Rakhal Than, Chin Para Bhiti Than, Barpeta Barbazat Jubak Sangha and Barbari Than. Later on, his mortal remains were taken to historical Barpeta Satra. The chief Deuri of Barpeta Satra offered mala nirmali in front of the main entrance and then the body was moved three times around the Satra and was cremated behind the main Satra.
Entire Barpeta town was grief-stricken at the untimely death of the Deka Satriya and thousands of people attended the cremation. The Burha Satriya of Barpeta Satra, Bashishtha Dev Sarma, Burha Satriya of Sundaridiya Satra Jagannath Dev Adhikari, president of Assam State Committee of BJP Ranjit Kumar Dass, Deputy Commissioner of Barpeta Munindra Sarma and several other persons and organisations have condoled the death of Nabajit Das Pathak.
