A BAND from the valley of KHANCHANJUNGA: TRAVELOGUE

GOING WHERE I BELONG : A TRIP TO GAURIPUR

ARGHADEEP BARUA

It was my cousin sister’s marriage and I finally got a chance to be at my ancestral place, gauripur. My parents, brother and other relatives went by private cars but I preferred to take a bus to have the better glimpse of the trip and to have the asili indian journey experience. Gauripur is about 300kms from the capital city of Assam, Guwahati. I took a bus from ISBT at 9: oo hours and reached gauripur at 15:30 hours. And to my surprise, my whole pariwar was waiting to receive me as if I’m some raja- maharaja.

RIVER GADHADAR

Now that was some sort of a reception, so let me introduce not my family, it’s too big to give a one to one introduction. Jokes apart, I would like to give you a small brief introduction of Gauripur. It has an average elevation of 26 metres (85 feet). The nearest airport is situated at Rupsi adjacent to the village Khudimari. Gauripur is a small beautiful town in the western side of district headquarters Dhubri. The main town is situated by the river Gadadhar, on its eastern side. There is a lake on its north-western side named Laokhowa beel and in the north-eastern side on the bank of Gadadhar is a small hill top called Matiabagh on which the palace named "Hawakhana" made by the Zamindar of Gauripur, Late Raza Prabhat Chandra Baruah is situated. On the other side of the Gadadhar river is the famous village Asharikandi, of international fame for its terrakota industry. The Gauripur town is served by the Northeast Frontier Railway of the Indian Railway network. The national highway 31 runs across the town.

Thanks to Wikipedia and my father I also came across an interesting story behind gauripur. The establishment of the town and the name "Gauripur" has an interesting story associated with the main architect of Gauripur, Raza Pratap Chandra Baruah, Zamindar of Rangamati. It is believed that one day Raza Baruah was hunting in the forest and came across a frog which was eating a snake. He was very much astonished to see this unnatural and unheard sight. Being a very strong devotee of Goddess Mahamaya, he was convinced that it was some sort of supernatural message for him. Shortly afterwards, he established a temple for Goddess Mahamaya and named the place as Gauripur after the alias "Gauri" of Mahamaya. He even shifted his capital of his Zamindari from Rangamati to Gauripur.

HAWAKHANA

Alright that was the history of the making of Gauripur. Gauripur is also a land of rich cultural heritage. And to my surprise in the evening my pehi( father’s sister) has organised a goalpariya lokogeet and kali chandi nritto (dance of goddess kali) for those who are new to gauripur. If we talk of goalpariya lokogeet then two names that come to our mind immediately are padmasree and sangeet natak academy award winner pratima Barua pandey and legendary singer dr. bhupen hazarika. They took goalpariya lookogeet to the national and then the international stage.

The Kali chandi dance is an extremely vigorous and powerful dance associated with Goddess Kali. But its performance on the special occasion of Charak Puja is most effective. The dancer (dheodha) wears a kali mask. He also carries a huge chopper in his hand. Two whisks attached to his head form the hair and from his waist hangs a red petticoat. With this make-up, when the dance is performed in the middle of the night with powerful sweeping steps and jerky movements of the masked face and the chopper carrying hand – the drummer(dhak badok) providing appropriate thunder-like beats in keeping with the steps- the effect is both trilling and awe-inspiring.

KALI MASK MADE OF PITH

KARTIK MADE UP OF PITH

Next day morning we took a walk through the lanes of baruapatty and lapkhowa par, reached mattiabagh in a matter of half an hour, where the hawakhana is situated. It is a very very beautiful old building at Matiabag hill top which was built by a Chinese architect and situated near the bank of the Godadhar river used as Hawakhana by the Zamindars of Gouripur estate. Many flims were shot there. It was used by the great film personality Late Pramathesh Chandra Barua in his films like Mukti etc. and later on used by his brother Late Prakritish Chandra Barua (Lalji). It is also where Padmasree Late Pratima Barua Pandey, and Parboti Barua, the Elephant Queen resided. The building should be kept as Museum so that the new generation can also have a look at this beautiful work of the gauripuriya zamindars.

In the afternoon, my elder brother took me to dhubri for a ride. Dhubri is said to be the gateway of the western Assam. Dhubri, in the past happened to be a meeting place of different racial groups which mingled together and formed a unique Cultural Heritage and Historical Background. The growth of blended culture in this region particularly in case of Language, Art and Religion is due to continuous process of assimilation of various races, caste & creed of local people, invaders & migrated people. Dhubri District is bounded both by inter-state and international border i.e. West Bengal and Bangladesh in the west, Goalpara and Bogaigoan district of Assam and Garo Hills district of Meghalaya in the east, Kokrajhar district in the north,Bangladesh and state of Meghalaya in the south.Covering an area of 2,838 Sq. Kms. including forests, riverines, hills etc.

Dhubri District is bestowed with attractive scenic beauties by the Mother Nature. Both the banks of river Brahmaputra with its lush green fields, blue hills and hillock is a feast to the eyes of the onlookers. The Chakrasila wild- life sanctuary, theTegbahadur Gurudwara, the Rangamati Mosque, Mahamaya Dham and the royal palaces attract the people for their unique structures, religious sanctity and mythological importance. Some attractive spots with salient features and pictorial views are depicted below:

Mahamaya Dham

Mahamaya Dham of Bogribari, about 30-35 Km. east from Dhubri town is next to Kamakhya Than (Guwahati) and Madan-Mohan (Cooch Behar) in its attraction to the pilgrims and tourists. Originaly the famous mother Goddess Mahamaya of Parvatjowar was worshipped by the local people like Kacharies, Koches and Nath etc. It was the presiding deity of the zaminder of Parvatjowar. Now-a-days the mother Mahamaya is worshipped by all Hindus.

Rangamati Mosque

The very famous Rangamati Mosque was built during 17th century by Hussain Shah, the Governor of Bengal. This Mosque belongs to pre-Mughal period which can be recognised from its typical architectural design. It is about 25Kms away from Dhubri Town. It may be mentioned that Rangamati area was once very prosperous during the reign of the Koch rulers .It was also the frontier post of the Koch rulers. During Mughal regime Rangamati was a great fort of the invading Mughal Army. This unique Mosque was used as a prayer place by the Mohmmedan Soldiers. There is also aIdgah and a deep Well which were also constructed during the same period.

Gurudwara Sri Guru Tegbahadur Sahibji

In the heart of the Dhubri Town and on the bank of the river mighty Brahmaputra, this famous Gurudwara is situated. Sikh Guru Nanaka visited this place in 1505 A.D. & met Sri Sankardeva during Nanaka's way from Dhaka to Assam. Thereafter the 9thGuru Tegbahadur came to this place and established this Gurudwara during 17thcentury. Sikh devotees from all over India and abroad assemble in this Gurudwarap every year in the month of December to mark the Martyrdom of Sri GuruTegbahadur with due solemnity and ceremony. Sikh devotees called this festival as Sahidee-Guru-Parav.

Netai Dhubuni Ghat Dhubri

The word Dhuburi (ধু বু ৰী ) comes from a legendary lady named Netai-Dhubuni. The story is connected with Behula-Lakhindar. The word Dhubuni is considered a corruption of 'Dhuburi'. According to Bodo-Kacharis, the word is of Bodo origin and derived from Dubra, a kind of grass. The story of lady Netai-Dhubuni is widely accepted for the naming history of Dhubri and that is where the Gurdwara Sri Tegh Bahadur Sahib stands.

Panchpeer Dargaha

It is Mazar Sharif of five Sufi Saints who accompanied Raja Ram Singh during his time of invasion to Assam. This Dargaha is the best example of religious harmony where all section of people irrespective of their religion pay visit with great respect.

Ramraikuti Satra

It is situated at Indo-Bangladesh and West Bengal border at Satrasal of Dhubri Dist.It is a holy place where the marriage ceremony of Chilarai and Bhubaneshwari(daughter of Ramrai, cousin of Sri Sankardev) took place.Paramguru Sri Sankardeva established this satra in order to promote propagate the Satriya Culture in this region. A brass made historical RATHA (Chariot) is preserved here.

Terracotta of Asharikandi

This craft is practised among the kumbhakara or Kumara (potter) community of Asharikandi village near Gauripur. Terracotta (means burnt clay) craft was previously confined to their families & neighbourhood areas. But at present it occupies a prominent position throughout the country and abroad.

Chakrasila Wildlife Sanctuary

In the year 1994, Chakrasila Hill Reserve Forest was declared as Chakrasila Hill Wildlife Sanctuary by the Govt. of India covering an area of 4558.7 hectares of land. The distribution of varieties of plant species in Chakrasila provides diverse niches for many wild life creatures. The Significant Golden Langur exists in Chakrasila Wildlife Sanctuary in addition to other mammals like Leopard, Leopard cat, Porcupine, Pangoline, Flying Squirrel, Civet cat etc. Adjutants Stork, Indian Owl, Myna, Parakeet, Dove, Hornbill, Jungle Fowl, Kingfisher, Harren, Darter, Snipe, Teal etc. are the birds commonly found. Python, Monitor, Crait, Cobra, Turtle, Tead and frog are some reptiles and amphibians that are also found.

I must admit it was a trip worth a million and I will cherish every second of this trip. I would love to gauripur again in near future.