GUWAHATI, Oct 27 - Glowing tributes were paid to Sahityarathi Lakshminath Bezbaroa at functions held to commemorate the history of �O Mor Aponar Desh,� the national anthem of Assam. On the occasion, rich tributes were also paid to those artistes who set the song to tune. The commemorative meetings held in Guwahati and Tezpur, started today with a two-day programme. It was Bezbaroa, who composed the song about 106 years back.
The lyrics of the song were penned by Bezbaroa on May 23, 1910 on board a train from Howrah to Puri. He was on his way that day on a pilgrimage to the Puri Jagannath Temple.
It was set to tune by artistes of the Tezpur Ban Theatre. It was sung for the first time at the 13th session of the Assam Sattra Sanmilan held at Tezpur under the presidentship of Deshabhakta Tarun Ram Phookun with a two-day programme on October 27 and 28, said Rajib Hari Kausik. Kaushik has been conducting research on the song since August 7, 1998, under a project named Asamor Jatiya Sangeet Aru Janajatiya Bhasarup Adhyayan-Gaveshana Prakalpa.
The song has been sung at the functions of the Asam Sahitya Sabha since 1955 and on February 20, 2016, the Assam government recognised it as the national anthem of Assam.
The two-day programme organised by the Gaveshana Prakalpa, in association with Tezpur Ban Theatre, will include programmes also at Tezpur, Dibrugarh and Ahatguri in Nagaon district. Ahatguri is the birthplace of the Sahityarathi.
In Guwahati, floral tributes were paid to the Sahityarathi at the Guwahati Club Rotary, where there is his life-size statue. Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) Chairman Dhiren Barua led the programme.
Addressing the function at the Rotary as the guest of honour, Anupam Barua, sales manager of the Idea group of mobile phone service providers, said his company would take steps to make the tune of O� Mor Aponar Desh a hello tune of the Idea phones.
Former Bodo Sahitya Sabha president Toren Boro praised the step of the organisers to celebrate the days on which the first public performance of the song was held, as a good one. He said this would remind the people of the correct tune of the song.
The organisers also paid floral tributes to the Sahityarathi at the Bhagawati Prasad Baruah Bhawan, office of the Asam Sahitya Sabha here. Saplings of fruit-bearing trees were planted on the campuses of the Kamrup Academy HS School and TC Girls� HS School here, in his memory.
