BARPETA, Jan 10 � The historic Ghura Naam at Baniyakuchi Satra in Barpeta district will be held on January 16. Elaborate arrangements have been made to observe the daylong programme in a grand way.
Ghura Naam is a traditional festival of Baniyakuchi Satra. It is being celebrated here since the establishment of the Satra by Mahapurush Sri Sri Harideva way back in 1492 AD. Devotees from almost all the villages in the area throng the old Satra namghar towards the south of Baniyakuchi village on the first day of the holy month of Magha of the Assamese almanac. Religious rituals will begin in the morning. At noon, naam kirtan will start with the circling of the Satra temple. Hence, it is called Ghura Naam.
Baniyakuchi Satra is one of the oldest Satras not only in Barpeta district but in the State and was established on the bank of the Kaliadar. Most of the people of the village and its vicinity are followers of the saint. People are emotionally attached to the Satra and the Ghura Naam festival.
Earlier, all the people of the area used to visit the Satra on that day to pay their homage to to the saint. But with the passage of time, several festivals around the villages of the Satra began and the visitors to it have also declined. Still there is no dearth of enthusiasm among many people and there is large gathering in the temple to participate in the Gura Naam and to see it.
The Satra is in a dilipidated condition like most such institutions in the State. The Satra naamghar was destroyed in a devastating cyclone and since then it has been running in the open air. Poor people of the area have been conducting the religious rituals in the midst of a lot of hardships.
