Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: Assam marked the 578th birth anniversary of Vaishnav saint Srimanta Sankardeva on Monday, September 21. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma led the tributes, calling the 15th-century social reformer the guiding light of Assamese society. He urged citizens to embrace the saint's focus on devotion and knowledge to help build a vibrant Assam and Viksit Bharat.
Sankardeva was born in 1449 at Bordowa Than in the Nagaon district. He founded the Ekasarana Naam Dharma movement and fundamentally shifted the region's religious and cultural trajectory. “Today, on the auspicious occasion of Mahapurush Srimardev’s Janmotsav, I pay my obeisances to our revered Gurujona, the guiding light of Assamese society,” Sarma wrote in a post on X.
Education Minister Ranoj Pegu marked the day by highlighting Dr. Nirupama Mahanta's 2007 novel, Sarbagunakara. This book traces the saint's life across three sections: Uday, Madhyahna, and Aparahna. It details his childhood, education, pilgrimages, and his bond with Madhavdeva. The text also examines the saint's fight against caste divisions and social inequality.
Pegu noted the novel effectively captures the folk life and religious customs of medieval Assam. It portrays Sankardeva as a compassionate creator who sought to bring learning to ordinary people through their mother tongue. Pegu also identified Syed Abdul Malik's Dhanya Naratanu Bhaal and Lakshminandan Bora's Jakheri Nahike Upam as other notable literary works documenting the saint's life and contributions.
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