MUSIC TRADITION OF KAMRUP-KAMAKHYA
Dilip Changkakoty
Kamakhya is a mystic place. This is the view of the devotees of India. Kamakhya is a famous religious site known for practicing Tantra. Music is a part of Trantic practices. Music in Indian Civilization is considered to be the supreme or absolute knowledge (Para-vidya) ; it is placed even on a higher plane then the Ten Great Knowledge system (Dasa-maha-Vidya). This is universal knowledge (Viswa-vidya). Music is the knowledge of light or enlightenment which is called the Gandharva-Vidya. He who embodies Gau, that is, the ray of the Sun is a Gandharva(the Moon is called Gandharva due to this reason). The music of the Gandharva is the music of light: the music of creation-light-the Supreme Being (Brahma). This is celestial music .
Music is a combination of song, instruments and dance. Music is a fusion of Rhythm or time and notes. Time is the fourth dimension. Our normal view is three dimensional. Only the third-eye or the institution is capable of seeing the fourth-dimension. This is why the worshipper of music is a seeker of the highest realm of knowledge. That’s why Music is the highest form of knowledge.
Music is a path of salvation. Its four elements are song (Geet), instrument (Vadya), dance (Nritya) and salvation (Muksha). Salvation or liberation from the self is the ground of the Indology (that is, Indian-knowledge-system). Salvation or Muksha is an idea which can be felt. It is permanent, hence static. Time or Tala and notes or Swara can be measured. Tala (Rhythm) has its own bols (musical word). Hence, this could be listened. Dance is mainly expressed by hand gesture. Hand Gesture or Hand (Hasta) means pose or postures (Mudra). Posture is communicative. This could be seen. Mudra or dancing postures are repertories of worship or work, thoughts arise out of here and they connect (yoga) human beings with the sublime. This is why Mudras are very enchanting.
Raga makes the human mind blissful: Cittaraµjan¡dr¡gaÅ. Grace, taste, flavor, touch and sound makes human soul blissful. Sound is medium of music. While graceful gestures are medium of dance. These two medium create taste or attraction (Rasa), that is, the sublime feeling. At its highest level Raga captivated the mind, which is the Anu-raga, next level of Raga. After that extreme level consciousness melts into the energy point and it attains the state of exaltation.
From the vary ancient times Kamrup-Kamakhya and Parasuram-Kunda are being considered among the most sought-after places for the worshippers of Aryabatta (Northern India). Kamakhya was linked through water-transport. In the Mahabharata-era, the Purba-Sagar (the eastern sea, the Bay of Bengal was formed much later) was spread up to the foot-hills of Kamakhya. The Karatoya River (modern Tista River?) merged with the Purba-Sagar. Lord Vishnu started his sea voyage along with his son Naraka from Mithila, located on the foot-hill of the Himalayas (Purba-Sagar had touched the foot-hill areas of the Himalaya in those days) in an expedition to reinstate Naraka as the king of Kamrupa. Ghataka, a local chieftain, was the then king of Kamrupa. He was defeated & dethroned and Naraka become the King. Later, the king of kamrupa, Bhagadatta and his army joined the battle of Kurukhetra in favour of King Duryodhana (who was the son-in-law of king Bhagadatta). Bhagadatta and his army started their sea-fare across the Purba-Sagar right from Kamakhya and anchored at his base camp Bhagadattapur (modern Bhagalpur, Bihar) on their way to Kurukhetra.
The Kamakhya Temple at Nilachal Hill of Guwahati City
On the other hand, there was a well-developed surface transportation to Parasuramkunda, now in Arunachal Pradesh. This route is currently known as National Highway No 15 on the north bank of the mighty Brahmaputra River. This ancient pilgrimage route was restored and renovated by Gohain Kamal – a brother of the Great Koch King Nara-Narayana, so it is also known as “Gohain-Kamal-Ali” It is noteworthy that there were provisions of rest house, temples, shelters and meeting places at a distance of every walking day to cater to the needs of the travelers. Sadhu, Mahatas and other pious people took this route to perform holy dip, for immersion of mortal remains and to see and touch the religious site. Most of the pilgrims were learned and ascetic people. Many of pilgrims settled here due to various reasons such as diseases, fatigue and others. Their descendents are spread across the two sides of this ancient road. The people of the north bank are in general very active and hospitable. Temples or religious sites are carriers of culture and civilization. In ancient times a temple cast its influence over a large area.
Parasuramkunda at Arunacha Pradesh
Bh¡skaravarma¸i Ý¡t® Survasanti V¡rit¡hapi Bh£patin¡ .
TadduÅkhamasaham¡n¡ Praviv®¿a Vil¡sin¢ Dahanam .. 561 ..
D¡m°daraguptaviracita Ku¶¶an¢matam
There is literary evidence that a prostitute took her life by burning herself being unable to bear the pain at the death of Kumar Bhaskar Barman, the Great King of kamrupa. In the seventh century AD, prostitutes (Vilasini that is enter-trainers) were trained dancers also. It implies the prevalence of music in Kamrupa. As for example, according to Kalikapuranam, one hundred and eight hand gestures were practiced in the Kamakhya Temple, fifty-five out of these were practiced in worship, and the remaining fifty-three Mudras were used in other ritualistic functions. (However, I found only sixty-six Mudras in Kalikapuranam).
Swargadeu Rudra Singha (1696 – 1714 AD) sought to expand the Ahom Kingdom up to the bank of the river Karatoya. He changed many rules and customs. He used to hold Durbars (means Royal court) like the Mughal emperors. He introduced Thumries, Bhajans and others along with Vaisnavite songs. The mistresses (Ligiri) or women attendants of the palace performed dance and songs at the royal court. Pakhowaj, a kind of percussion instrument, was an essential part of such entertainment oriented dance functions. Khaunda were sent outside of the kingdom for learning Pakhowaj. Sattriya and Suttradhari dancers had to wear a turban like the Mugals when they performed at the royal court. This is the Mugalai-turban of Suttradhari dance form. Swargadeu Rudra Singha wrote lyrics in the style of Thumri. He used Thumri, Khemta, Jhap, Tri-tala and others which were used in Indian Classical tradition. As said earlier, Pakhowaj was introduced in the dance function in the royal court. Dholoka had been introduced. New designs of attire had been introduced following the pattern used by Radha-Gopis in Vrinaban, e.g. Apsara Nritya of Auniati Sattra or Indravishekh Nritya of Dakhinpat Sattra.
An old-devotee follower Late Maheswar Bora, Auniati Sattra, Majuli played the DOLOKA
Swargadeu Rudra Singha entrusted the task of regularizing the religious customs and practices to Krishnaram Bhattacharjee Aham-Bagis (Scholar of Trantra Sashtra). He resided in a hill (Neel-Parbat), so he became known as Parbatia-Gosain. This arrangement had contributed to a closer proximity between Kamakhya and Banga, Odisha and Eastern Bihar. Closer relations were also developed with Brindaban, Mathura and others.
Moreover, the Swargadeu made it obligatory for all the noble-men to take the initiation into the Vaishnavism under Parbatia-Gosain. As the number of noble-men got increased, Parbatia-Gosain delegated the authority of giving initiation to four Brahmin Sattras and the some other persons also. This arrangement bore a far reaching consequence in turning the Kamakhya Temple into a meeting place of the Sakta and the Vaishnava cultures. It is quite visible in the Ambubasi, the main festival of Kamakhya. In other festival like Devadhani, Durga-puja and others the pre-eminence of Thalagiri music is obvious. Oja-pali and Deodhani-Deodha musical dance forms were performed. Once upon a time Devadasi were performing at Kamakhya. On the whole, Indian Classical Musicians from Banga, Odisa and Eastern Bihar Worshiped music in Kamakhya for attaining success in their pursuit.
After the Burmese invasion, Assam came under the rule of “East India Company”. Bengal came into closer contacts. On the other hand, thousands people became refugee in the aftermath of Burmese atrocious aggressions. The higher-ups of the Ahom nobility came to Guwahati in search of safe haven and livelihood. The British company set-up its court in Guwahati. The last Ahom princes Kandarpeswar Singha and Kesanhavkanta Singha also resided in an area called Rajbari near the present Uzanbazar locality of Guwahati.
Some of the gentlemen having clout in the administration as well as in royal house shifted to North-Guwahati and become permanent residents there. They were regarded as nobles or influential people. In that period a tendency to imitate the Bengali Babus grew up among the Assamese higher-ups. Same tendency was discernible in the musical sphere also. A good number of Assamese people learnt Hindustani Music from Bengali Ustads. Some had even learnt Classical Bhajans from Pandits, who came to Assam with the Marowari traders, finding in them similarity with our Borgeet. This process continued. We had heard of a Pandit named Bongshibat Pandey; he used to stay at a temple near the Railway gate at Fancy-Bazar. Sashi Goswami, Dr Bhupen Hazarika, Keshab Changkakati, Khirakanta Bishoya, Nirod Roy and the likes were learning classical music from Panditji. Some others were learning Pakhowaj playing from him.
In those days Bengali Yatra-Party dedicated their first day performance to Mother Goddess Kamakhya, which was observed by them as a tradition. The building structure of the Kamakhya Temple provided appropriate space for such performances. The stair-case outsides its stage were used by the viewers like galleries. Similarly, these are instances of dedicating music in the theatre-hall of Kamakhya by many of the stalwarts of Indian Classical music: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Pandit Yasraj, Pandit Kishan Maharaj, Pandit Santa Maharaj, Pandit Chimoy Lahiri, Pandit Birju Maharaj, Pandit Hari Prasad Chauachiya, Ustad Amjad Ali Khan and others such legendary musicians of India offered their music to Mother Goddess Kamakhya – I personally witnessed it.
Sarod-Samrat Baba Ali Akbar Khan, Pandit Kumar Bhattacharjee and others even resided in the Kamakhya Temple area for worshipping music dedicating them to the Devi (Mother Goddess Kamakhya). I came to know from Baba Ali Akbarji himself that it is their family tradition that they have to offer music to Mother Goddess Kamakhya at least once in a year. Innumerable numbers of Sadhus-Santa-Mahatas (religious devotees of higher order) came to Kamakhya in pursuit of music, undertook Tapas, many of them even laid down their lives here. One Naga-Baba resided in the Lolita-Kanta Temple here in Kamakhya hill till 1972. I had a good acquaintance with this Baba. Being in the close proximity with such eminent musicians the Pandas (religious guides of the temple) were also attuned to Indian Classical Music, not only as listeners, but as practitioners also. Vaidyanath Bhattacharjee, Hirendra nath Sarmah, Mahadev Sarmah, Ramdas Kalita, Kishore Sarmah and others were prominent among the Kamakhya residents who excelled in the Hindustani Music.
According to Natya-Sashtra of Bharatmuni, there are four streams (Prabritti, local usages in dramatic representation, which are distinguished from each other on account of differences in costumes and language, manners and professions) of Indian music, they are Dakshinatya, Avanti, Panchalamadhyama and Odramagadhi. Odramagadhi was prevalent in Nepal, Banga, Odissa, East Bihar, Kamrupa and others. It is a separate stream. Here, Raga-Tala and Mudra are applied in a different manner. For example, the Talas like Pori, Jati, Chuta, Doskosi are not used in other Indian Musical stream. Hence, the music practiced in Kamrupa-Kamakhya is somewhat different from the rest part of the country.
In the early days of the Company rule, Harakanta Barua Sadar-amin invited a person named “Pinaki” to settle at Madhyamkhanda of North Guwahati from Kurua. Pinaki belonged to the family of Changkakoty (“Chang” means Royal Palace and “Kakoty” means the writer, that is, one who write the royal court) and he had a considerable influence both in Rajbari (Royal mansion) and British administration. Pinaki’s eldest son Durbadatta had a great interest in music. He was a singer in the royal court. He sang traditional Assamese Vishnavite Music such as Borgeet, Ghosa, Pada (verse), Lyrical poems and others with precision. He had some very good pupils or disciples like Dehiram Patgiri, Umakanta Majindar Barua, Gojar Bordoloi and others. Durbadatta’s son Durllabh Changkakoty, Dehiram’s son Kirtinath Bordoloi, Dandi Kakoti, Prafulla Barua and others had carried forward the legacy of Durbadatta. These people are regarded among the morning stars of Assamese modern music. Prafulla Barua was the father of Pabbot Prasad Barua, Durllabh’s son Dr Debendrachandra Changkakoty was also a singer of repute. Dr Changkakoty wrote “Sangit Upakramanika” (Part 1 and 2) – an authoritative book on music in Assamese as early as in 1932. Dr Changkakoty’s one nephew was Keshab Changkakoty, a well known specialist on Tabla and Sattriya Dance & music. He was co-author along-with Dr Maheswar Neog of the path-breaking book “Sattriya Nritya aru Sattriya Nrityar Tala”. Besides, he wrote some outstanding books like Rhythm in the Vaishnava Music of Assam, Taal-Pradip and Shraboni Sattrar Taal.
Dr Debendrachandra Changkakoty was practiced Borgit (January, 1922)
Nitai, the ancestor of the Changkakoty family belongs from the family of Chaturvedi’s of Mathura Krishna Temple. Hence, this family has a cultural heritage from Mathura. “Shree Krishna Janmastomi” is the main festival of this family. A special music & dance was performed in the Namghar (Joyram-Baliram Namghar) of Madhyamkhanda (North Guwahati) in the 60 decade. Kumud Chandra Bordoloi, who was the Great-grandson of Harakanta Barua Sadar-amin had documented the same. I had a chance to study his documentations and observed that these are Baha-Nam & Hira-Nam, but the steps are quite differing from the traditional one.
Some steps of Hira-Nam documented by Late Kumud Chandra Bordoloi
In the 18th century there came to Assam the Ustads and Yatra troupes from Bengal. Before going back to their home they were often invited to take part in Baithakis or music clubs organized by royal deputies or officials. Perhaps it was an imitation of the Bengoli-Babus’ and Jamindars’ pleasure-seeking life-style. In North Guwahati, Bengali Yatra functions continued for several days. Likewise, Sadhu-Mahantas coming from Vrindaban held assemblies of dance & music. People of North Guwahati hosted these programs and bid them farewell with gifts, cloths and money. There are rumors that some officers even brought Baiji from Bengal.
Anyway, a musical atmosphere developed there. The villagers took a state of music and learnt it. However, there cropped up a shimmering tension between the traditional vaishnavite music and the alien Bengali cultural waves. In this backdrop, a process of restoring Assamese language and culture in its original forms grew up. A new movement got started. Interestingly, this was initiated by a section of the officials who served the company rule or the erstwhile royal power.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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