GUWAHATI, July 24 � Two eminent but low-profile exponents of the State�s Sattriya culture, Tuniram Barbayan and Gangaram Barbayan, will be felicitated at a cultural programme to be held at the Rabindra Bhavan tomorrow evening under the aegis of Nrityabhumi.
The programme, titled Nrityastuti, will feature Sattriya dance and music where artistes and learners at Nrityabhumi will present seven different Sattriya dance items. Janarddan Deva Goswami, Sattradhikar of Uttar Kamalabari Sattra, will formally inaugurate the cultural evening at 6-30 pm.
Noted artistes Krishnamurti Hazarika and Dulal Roy will formally felicitate the veteran duo from Uttar Kamalabari Sattra of Majuli who have been instrumental in the progressive journey of the Sattriya culture.
Prof Naren Chandra Baruah, director of Nrityabhumi, said that Tuniram Barbayan and Gangaram Barbayan � both aged close to 90 � had shaped the creativity of many well-known Sattriya artistes of the State, but their lifelong contribution remained by and large unrecognized, especially by the State Government.
�That is why we have decided to honour the two self-effacing doyens by way of a public felicitation along with some financial assistance. We have also resolved to felicitate every year artistes who have been ignored despite their lifelong pursuit of excellence in their chosen field of art and culture,� he added.
Nrityabhumi which was established with the objective of providing a learning platform for aspiring artistes in Sattriya as well as different folk dance forms of the State has seen several of its students winning the national CCRT scholarship under the Ministry of Culture, Government of India. Its students have also performed creditably at different major dance festivals of the country such as Purvadhara Mahotsav (Delhi), Sattriya Mahotsav (Santi Niketan), Natyanjali Mahotsav (Chidambaram and Tanjavore), Octave Mahotsav (Hyderabad and Patna), Nritya Parva (Guwahati), Nritya Pratibh Mahotsav (Mumbai), etc.
Prof Baruah also performed along with a troupe comprising Uttar Kamalabari Sattra artistes at France and Portugal recently, helping the spread of the Sattriya culture abroad.
