SUALKUCHI, Feb 2 - On the third day of the 75th biennial conference of the Asam Sahitya Sabha today, every road and bylane of Sualkuchi was crowded with people.
During the day hours, the whole of Sualkuchi wore a colourful look when thousands hit the streets as part of the Jyoti-Bishnu-Bhupendra memorial cultural rally, which was the main attraction of the day. The rally was organised by the organising committee to welcome the newly-elected president of Asam Sahitya Sabha, Dr Kuladhar Saikia. The rally began from the �Bastra Bhawan� and ended at the venue of the conference �Jyoti Kshetra.�
To welcome the newly-elected president, the organising committee arranged a special vehicle which was designed on the theme of �Sualkuchi� by noted artist Nuruddin Ahmed. �My team has spent around two weeks to design the vehicle. The vehicle cost around Rs 2 lakh. We have used various items like paper, foam, thermocol, etc., to complete the design,� Ahmed said.
In the vehicle, eri and muga cocoons, som tree, weaving machine, a japi and others items used by the weavers of Sualkuchi which is famous for its paat and muga weaving industry, have been used.
Before the cultural procession, office-bearers of the organising committee welcomed Dr Saikia at Amingaon and took him to Sualkuchi in the specially-designed vehicle. The procession began at around 1.30 pm and ended at around 3 pm. It travelled a distance of around 2.5 km across Sualkuchi town. Participants of the rally also carried photographs of all the former presidents of the Sabha and 75 japis and kolohs to mark the 75th biennial conference.
A number of cultural groups, including a dhulia team from Sipajhar, mahaho team from Ramdia, mask artistes from Halogaon Gopal Satra, Nao Khel team and cultural troupes of various tribes like Dimasa, Modahi, Sonowal Kachari, Matak, etc., took part in the rally, which was led by five elephants.
Sources said among the five elephants, two each were taken from Orang National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and one was taken from a private owner. Four of them were males and one a female.
�I had witnessed such a crowd during the visit of Mahatma Gandhi only and today history repeated itself. Today is a special day for Sualkuchi. It will place our native place at the international level,� said 94-year-old freedom fighter Madhab Chandra Baishya, who stood for more than an hour in front of his house to welcome the newly-elected president.
Similarly, by evening, the Jyoti Kshetra recorded a huge number of footfalls where traffic congestion was also witnessed on the road leading to the conference premises.