MAJULI, Nov 4 - Since the day of its establishment, the Sri Sri Auniati Satra of Majuli has been celebrating the Palnaam Mahotsav. This year it will be celebrated from November 10 to 15.
According to the devotees of this satra, this festival, which is based on naam-kirtana system of Mahapurush Sankaradeva, leads to the formation of a disciplined society, bringing peace and unity among the various castes and communities by teaching values of life like brotherhood, spirituality, morality etc., and also makes man a better social organiser.
According to history, Auniati Satra has been celebrating this Palnaam festival in the �Kati� month of the Assamese calendar, from 1969 during the time of second satradhikar of this satra, Keshab Chandra Dev. Earlier, this festival was celebrated during the whole �Kati� month but later on the tradition began to celebrate it only during the last five days of the month, and the tradition continues.
This year, in the midst of Palnaam, there is the �Raas Purnima� on November 14, so the palnaam will be stopped on that day and on the whole day and night of November 14, Raas puja and the dramas will be held at the satra. The palnaam will start again on the last day i.e., on November 15 and end at night in the presence of thousands of devotees.
For the healthy development of Sanskrit language and to popularise it among the students, researcher of Satriya culture, noted scholar and the satradhikar of this satra, Dr Pitambar Dev Goswami has been maintaining a tradition to give an award to the meritorious students of Sanskrit called �Gobinda Swarna Padak� since the year 2000. Like in previous years, this year also, on the last day of the palnaam, this award will be given away in a meeting to be held at 4 pm on the premises of the satra.
For the above-mentioned award, this year, 10 students have qualified by getting the highest 95% marks in Sanskrit in Assam in the previous HSLC exam. The award-winning students are: David Saharia, Luna Chandra Boruah, Aparna Saharia, Barbie Sarkar, Karishma Deka, Luna Deka, Manisha Sharma, Rimjim Saikia, Nikita Konch and Madal Agasti. It is remarkable that, for the first time as many as 10 students have qualified for the award. About the increasing number of recipients, Dr Pitambor Dev Goswami said, �It is a good sign that a tough competition is going on among the students for the �Gobinda Swarna Padak�. I am very happy. How will I give the award to 10 students, is not a big matter but the noticeable thing is that the popularity of Sanskrit language is increasing among the students. We will happily give away the award to all�.
