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Dergaon all set to host 87th session of Srimanta Sankardeva Sangha

By SANJOY KR HAZARIKA

GOPIKA BALLAV GOSWAMI SAMANNAY KHSETRA (Dergaon), Feb 4 - Brisk preparations are afoot to hold the 87th session of the Srimanta Sankardeva Sangha (SSS) from February 7-10 at Pandit Raichahab Gopikaballav Goswami Samannay Khsetra, Dadhara Ahom Pathar, Dergaon.

The reception committee (RC) headed by Pabitrapran Bora, Mrinal Saikia and Devanjan Bora as the president, working president and secretary respectively along with 35 other sub-committees working round the clock. To welcome more than 10 lakh devotees each day coming from the 51 district committees of SSS along with devotees from Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Koch Bihar, Kameng etc., the RC has earmarked a budget of Rs1.90 crore.

Talking to this correspondent at the site, the secretary of the reception committee, Devanjan Bora revealed that about 80 per cent of the funds have been received. Acknowledging the contributions of all sections of people, Bora said that he had never seen such cooperation from community members earlier.

According to the schedule, the programme will begin at 5 am on February 7 with a cleanliness drive and will end at 6 pm on February 10. The session is likely to be attended by several scholars of different religions especially on Sankardeva�s ideals along with several ministers and leaders. The two open sessions to be held on February 9 and 10 will be chaired by the Padadhikar of SSS Bhabendranath Deka. A colourful cultural procession with the Bhagavat will be taken out on February 9. The dignitaries likely to take part in the session are the Governor of Assam Prof Jagadish Mukhi, Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju, Rajen Gohain, Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarmah, former Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Prafulla Kr Mahanta, AASU leaders Dr Samujjal Bhattacharya, Lurinjyiti Gogoi among others.

The site prepared for the session with 1.5 square km area at the historic Dadhara Ahom Pathar, Dergaon by NH-37 has been named after the second Padadhikar of SSS Pandit Raisahab Gopikaballav Goswami. A temporary naamghar has been activated at the site since January 15. Since its inauguration, the rituals i.e., three prasangas are held daily at the naamghar which is constructed with sewa trees and straw. In the naatghar, two ankia naats will be demonstrated daily for the three nights. According to the vice-president in-charge of the construction of the pandal and camp, Kamini Kr Dutta the main pandal with a length and breadth of 300 feet and 140 feet along with the stage can accommodate 8000 people. A dining hall is ready where 10,000 people can take meals at a time. As many as 303 furnaces have been readied. Eight meals have been donated by Jorhat, Bokakhat, Titabar and Dhansiri district branches of SSS, Dergaon Chambers of Commerce, CM Sarbananda Sonowal, AASU and Ahom Sena each. A meal for the special delegates� camp has been donated by Naharani Jamiat along with six other meals offered by six individual donors.

As many as 13 books will be released on February 7. The Book fair and Exhibition Sub-committee headed by Tapna Hazarika and Dr Devojit Baruah as the president and secretary respectively is all set to make the book fair a success. According to the secretary, a total of 58 publishers in and outside of the State will take part in the book fair. Several competitions along with a poetry programme have also been arranged at the fair. In the exhibition 191 stalls will be there where several establishments and government departments will take part. On the other hand in the restricted trade fair, a total of 250 stalls will be there.

A cultural procession will be taken out on February 9. The main attraction will be the Bhagavat Rath which will be 15 feet high, 35 feet long and 9 feet wide on the model of a naamghar with several pictures of the creations of Sankardeva. As many as 60,000 people with several cultural troops will take part in the procession. Cooperation of members of other religions is also one of the major developments of the session. In the preparation programmes members of the Muslim, Jain and Christian communities are actively associated.

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