The six-day 11th Ankiya Bhaona Samaroh organised by Guwahati-based Sattriya Kendra of Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi in collaboration with the Goalpara district administration and Goalpara College, will get underway at Goalpara College field from today (Sunday).
‘Ankiya Bhaona’ is a form of religious theatre, a one act play created by Mahapurush Sankardeva. It is Vaisnavite in content and character.
The programme will be inaugurated in the evening with the enactment of ‘Rukmini Haran’, directed by veteran Assamese cine actor Pranjal Saikia and produced by Sattriya Kendra, Guwahati.
There will altogether be seven one act plays to be staged and these plays are ‘Bhojon Bihar’, ‘Arjun Bhanjan’, ‘Parijat Haran’, ‘Pimpora Gusowa’, ‘Ram Vijay’, ‘Kaliyo Daman’ and ‘Keli Gopal’.
Along with the enactment of these plays, a series of seminars have been arranged on the same stage side by side.
The seminars will begin with the title, ‘Ankiya Nat:Religious and philosophical significance’ by Jitendranath Pradhani followed by two other seminar topics by Satyakam Borthakur and Bhanu Bezbaruah.
Pradipjyoti Mahanta, project director of Sattriya Kendra, Guwahati will deliver the inaugural speech on the occasion of of beginning of the seminars on Monday.
Meanwhile, Nuruddin Ahmed, who has won the prestigious ‘Stage Craft’ Sangeet Natak Akademi award 2017 and a veteran artist, has finished the stage work in the line of traditional Namghar pattern which was preferred by the Sankardeva to enact the plays.
“I have brought a little change from the traditional pattern for the devotee viewers from sitting on the floor to chair for the modern spectators,” said Ahmed.
The organisers have invited cross-sections of people to participate and enjoy the dramas.