Prelude  After 1695 A.D. when Ahom king Rudra Singha had taken over the patronage of art and artistic activities in Assam, and when the centre of cultural and political activity had shifted from lower Assam to upper Assam, tremendous changes had taken place in the character and shape of the bahuwa in bhaona performances. This time the bahuwas had started singing, dancing and speaking. The gradual assimilation of the other tribes as per the Ahom policy was reflected by the new articulation of the bahuwa. This articulation, this metamorphosis and this new bio-dynamic of the bahuwa was of tremendous use in the future. In fact, by the 18th century, the bahuwa had become a must for the bhaona performances. Without him, all bhaonas would fail. In the Tungkhungia Buranji, reference is given about the marriage of the Ahom king Rajeswara Singha (1751-69) with the princess Kuranganayani, daughter of Raja Bhagyachandra of Manipur, when a dramatic performance, Ravana-Vadha-Bhaona was held. Kirtichandra Barbarua, chief of the judiciary, acted as the master of revels, and as many as 700 actors and musicians joined to make the show a success. But the show was intended to be so dignified and courtly that there was no bahuwa. Again, in 1806 AD, during the reign of Kamaleswar Singha, the Akruragamana Bhaona was performed by a group of traditional artistes of Namati Satra of the Dihing group, but the play failed, for there was no bahuwa. (Next week: Bahuwas in the twentieth century). E-mail your questions with answers at: only4_pol@yahoo.co.uk or post at: THE COLOSSEUM, Mosaic, Friday Supplement, The Assam Tribune, Guwahati-781003 or SMS at: 9864102417. Send your name in each SMS.

side screen  1) Picture Clue: Identify these two stalwarts of Assamese music. (Himjyoti Talukdar, Sunlight Colony, Ashram, New Delhi)

harmonisers  From Kirtika Das, Santipur, Guwahati – 2) What does Ra and Horos mean to ancient Egyptians? 3) Which tennis player was popularly known as "Silky"? 4) She was the first Indian to bag the ‘Miss World’ title and is currently a practising doctor in the Netherlands. Name her. 5) Which was Disney’s first animated full length movie?

unities  From Saroj K. Deka, Guwahati – 6) Shakespearean plays are the inspiration for some of Vishal Bharadwaj’s movies. If Macbeth inspired him to make Maqbool and Othello inspired Omkara, then what inspired him to make Kaminey? 7) Who directed the Hindi remake of Billy Wilder’s Irma La Douce as Monoranjan? 8) For which film did Amitabh Bachchan receive his first Filmfare award in the best actor category?

do-re-me  9) The name of this beautiful place is derived from a native word which denotes ‘river valley’. Name the word and name the place. (Priyomjyoti Phukan, Mathurapur, Sivasagar) 10) Who is the exponent of the Manipuri classical dance form Ras Leela? (Porshia Moirangthem, Imphal) 11) What unit of measurement originating in Roman times forms the distance covered by 1000 paces of a marching legionnaire? (Sonmani Das, Nalbari) 12) Where is the only butterfly museum in India situated? (Snigdhendu Das, SNBC Hostel, Cotton College) 13) Which temple complex is known as the ‘Khajuraho of Assam’? (Jahnabi Goswami, Handique Girls’ College, Guwahati) 14) What is a dagger or knife that fits on the barrel of a gun called? (Himangshu Kalita, Anand Academy, Guwahati)

crescendo  15) Hiranyadhanu, not a very well-known personality in the epic Mahabharata, is the father of which famous personality of the epic? (Cheban Kr. Sharma, Miles Bronson Residential School, Guwahati)

Answers  1) Bhupen Hazarika (right) with Parbati Prasad Baruah 2) The Sun God and the Sky God 3) Gabriela Sabatini 4) Rita Faria 5) Sleeping Beauty 6) Comedy of Errors 7) Shammi Kapoor 8) Amar Akbar Anthony 9) The word is Dun and the place is Dehradun 10) King Bhagyachandra Singh 11) Mile 12) Shillong 13) Madan Kamdev 14) Bayonet 15) He was the father of Ekalavya.