Tezpur: The 226-year-old Baresahariya Bhaona of Assam, a form of dance-drama, has found its place in the curriculum of the Gauhati University. The students of the Skill Enhancement Curriculum (SEC) under the degree courses of all the colleges under the university can now opt to study the rich tradition and heritage of Bhaona in Assam from the next academic session.
The university has already included chapters on Bhaona under a paper in the third semester for the Bachelor of Arts (BA) course which includes the rich culture of Bhaona — the Baresahariya Bhaona of Jamugurihat in Assam's Sonirtpur district and the Hazari Bhaona of Kaliabor area in Nagaon.
Ajit Hazarika , Principal of THB college, who initially thought about the idea of approaching the Gauhati university to include Bhaona in curriculum, expressed his happiness over the development and said that this move will go a long way not only to promote Bhaona but will also lead to documentation of the same. "As more students will study the course, Baresahoriya Bhaona will reach new audiences and there will be research works on the Bhaona," he said
"The Gauhati University had suggested all the colleges select a curriculum under the Skill Enhancement Course (SEC). Accordingly, we have prepared a curriculum on the heritage Baresahoriya Bhaona, which has been performed in the state for over 226 years. Over 100 students had already been studying Bhaona in our college. Now that the university has included this course in the curriculum, it has provided a new meaning to the dance-drama," said Khanjan Kumar Das, a professor at Tyagbir Hem Baruah College in Jamugurihat area of Sonitpur.
"As the curriculum prepared is incorporated in the university curricula, more students could opt to pursue Bhaona now," Das said.
The college is in the process of publishing a book on Baresohoriya Bhaona shortly which will be useful for students pursuing the subject.
It may be mentioned here that Bhaona is a dramatisation of stories from epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata, and Puranas. Srimanta Sankardev, Assam's 15th-century saint scholar and reformer, founded the dance-drama form to propagate neo-Vaishnavite culture to bring together the diverse society through entertainment and share the teachings of Vaishnavism. The blending of religion and culture has helped this festival last over the years while keeping its storytelling alive.
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