BARPETA, Sept 21 - Extensive preparations are on to celebrate the 567th birth anniversary of Srimanta Sankardeva in different parts of the district, including the Barpeta Satra. In the Madhabdeva-established satra, the festival will be celebrated with a two-day programme from September 23.
A procession will be taken out by the gayan bayan of the Satra on the first day of the festival after the morning rituals. A religious symposium to be presided over by the Burha Satriya of the Satra will take place in the afternoon that day. It will be addressed by Riju Pathak, chief secretary of the Rastriya Madbhagawat Sanmilan. After day-long naam prasanga on September 24, the festival will come to an end with a naam by the women disciples on the forecourt of the Satra in the afternoon.
The Barbazar Yubak Sangha will organize a four-day programme from September 22 to celebrate the birth anniversary of the Vaishnavite saint. After the usha kirtan on day one, the festival will be inaugurated by Haren Das, president of the Sangha, while Thakur Barua Atoi will erect the Bhagawat at the Sri Sri Narayan Das Thakur Ata Kshetra, the festival venue at 7:45 am. There will be various competitions among the students, while a sarai will be offered at the Barpeta Satra following a procession with the gayan bayan from the Barpeta Barbazar. A naam competition among the women will be held in the evening.
Recitation of the Bhagawat by Gopesh Chandra Thakuria will commence at 8:30 am on September 23. There will be two religious symposia which will be held on September 23 and 24. The four-day-long programme will conclude with a naam prasanga in the morning of September 25.
