Year: 2018 | Month: June | Volume 7 | Issue 2
Role of Sattra and Namghar in the Vaishnava Tradition of Srimanta Sankaradeva
Abstract:
Srimanta Sankaradeva (1449 AD-1569 AD) was an important personality in the archives of Indian History. He was not only a religious preceptor, but also a social reformer, who had Sanskritized the diverse ethnic groups of north east India and assimilated them with the national mainstream. He is considered as the father of modern Assamese society and is also considered by his followers as an incarnation of God because of his multi-faceted contribution to the mankind. Sankaradeva preached a doctrine of universal brotherhood and humanism for improving the condition of Assamese society and created a harmonious socio-cultural-religious environment for the diverse ethnic communities in the Brahmaputra valley. Srimanta Sankaradeva made his magical impact on the religion, social, literary and cultural life of the Assamese people. It was because of Sankaradeva’s philosophy of equality and universal brotherhood revealed through his Neo-Vaishnavism many indigenous people took religious shelter under the new faith, the hallmark of which is the evolution of two distinctively unique institutions, namely the sattra and namghar in Assam, both of which began to serve not only as the instrument of spreading faith but also intimately associating with the social as well as the cultural fabric of the Assamese society. In this paper, a humble attempt has been made to discuss at length about the uniqueness of the Neo-Vaishnava movement initiated by Srimanta Sankaradeva and the long lasting changes that it brought about in the Assamese society. The paper further attempts to highlight how sattra and namghar have contributed immensely in the process of assimilation and socialization of the assamese culture and identity.
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