JORHAT, March 29 - Several cultural troupes here are doing extended rehearsals to hone their proposed performances highlighting the lives and traditions of riverside communities during the forthcoming Namami Brahmaputra festival.
Busy localities like Baruah Chariali, AT Road, Jail Road and remote villages of Kokilamukh area carry a festive air in anticipation of the grand river festival. Apart from preparations for the rendition of patriotic songs, music, aarti and drama, ethnic dances like the Mising Gumrag, Sattriya dance and the traditional Lai Lung Kham dance of the Ahom community will also take centre stage during the festival.
�On April 2, Gumrag, Lai Lung Kham and Sattriya dances will be performed on a floating stage in the Neamatighat area. Besides, several cultural programmes will be performed on the JDSA Field and at Kokilamukh. Preparations are on in full swing,� said Jorhat Additional Deputy Commissioner Jayanta Kumar Goswami.
Officials of the district administration said that they would endeavour to include all communities to showcase their culture and heritage in different programmes and at different locations, including Kokilamukh, Neamatighat and JDSA Field, and in the cultural processions.
Several prominent citizens stated that the five-day river festival would catch the attention of foreign and domestic tourists towards Jorhat, which is enriched with optimum resources for the development of heritage tourism.
The lush green landscape with cattle and buffalo herds amidst swaying reeds in the vast meadows on the bank of the mighty Brahmaputra, tea gardens and golf resorts, architecture and historic ponds of the royal Ahoms, spiritual centres and devotional chanting, and songs of different religious groups, British-era bungalows and vivid cultural elements of various communities and other folk features will naturally draw visitors to this splendid Upper Assam district, the local people here feel.