DESPITE SOUNDING CLICHÉD, it is almost compulsive to mention that though you can take a resident out of Majuli, the emerald island in the breast of the mighty Brahmaputra, you cannot take Majuli out of him. At the time of the annual Raas festival, a ‘Majulian’ who is away from home cannot resist coming back to enjoy the festivities along with other members of the family and relatives. Such is the enduring appeal of the Raas that when it beckons, the islanders are overwhelmed by a sense of piety and collective euphoria which drown all their immediate sorrows.

The milieu was no different this time around, too, as thousands of people made a beeline for the seat of Satriya culture to revel in the Raas celebrations spread over two to three days beginning November 2.

Religion, nature and togetherness transformed Majuli into a surreal destination as the river island, donning the Raas colours under the light of the full moon, throbbed with the ‘night life’. The birth, antics and flirtatious actions of Lord Krishna — which form the theme of the Raas Leela — kept the islanders awake and huddled in 35-odd permanent and makeshift stages across the subdivision.

Though believed to have originated in Dakhinpat Satra, which celebrated its 169th edition this year, the Raas festival has lately emerged as a popular mode of entertainment. Coming out of the satras, which have kept the traditional values intact in staging it, the Raas has virtually leapt into the streets of Kamalabari and Garamur, the two main towns in Majuli.

Several culture groups have sprung up in the island only to stage the Raas festival in the manner of mobile theatre shows for commercial gains. The Kamalabari-based Majuli Milan Sangha, set up in 1938, for instance, has been staging the Raas festival since 1957, staking claim that it was the first organisation to take the ‘divine spectacle’ out of the satras. Another culture group operating in Kamalabari, Sanmilita Silpi Samaj, roped in popular Assamese film actress Barasharani Bishaya to perform in its Raas show last year in a bid to “promote Majuli’s Raas in a big way.”

Despite all the technical innovations and stage improvisations, the traditional and spiritual values associated with the Raas inspire the islanders in the first place, said journalist and school teacher Kamal Dutta who has written a handy primer, Majulir Raas Parichay, on the Raas shows enacted in namghars (community prayer halls) and permanent stages of satras and other open stages and pandals across Majuli.

Tracing its roots to a movement dating back to 350 years, the Raas is strictly staged in the traditional manner at Dakhinpat Satra which has not failed to attract devotees and pilgrims in droves every year, Dutta, who owes allegiance to the famed Auniati Satra, pointed out.

Echoing him, Dhrubajyoti Hazarika, general secretary of Jorhat district committee of All Assam Students Union, maintained that the organisers of the pandal Raas shows should not forget the deep spirituality and customs by going for too much technical glitz.

Hazarika’s colleague, Biren Saikia, president of the same AASU unit, however, rued the deplorable state of the roads in Majuli, especially the stretches between Kamalabari and Bongaon on the one hand and Garamur and Jengrai on the other which gives a bad impression to visitors from outside. He also called for stringent Excise provisions to check the rampant liquor consumption in the island. Though there are no liquor shops in Majuli, the laxity on the part of the authorities concerned has led to easy availability of wine, Saikia, a resident of Balichapori village in the island, added.

However, these aberrations have not taken anything away from the mass appeal of the grand spectacle of Lord Krishna slaying one demon after another and making his consort Radha and other gopis dance to the tunes wafting from His flute despite the fact that it has been enacted over and over again. For those who are young at heart, the dance ensemble at the end (called the Maharaas in the local lingo) is a must-watch as the grace and poise of the local artistes who perform this act cannot be replicated anywhere else, Pradip Borah, who hails from Mudoibil in Majuli and heads the Jorhat bureau of a Guwahati-based TV news channel, said.

Even otherwise, the Raas holds centre stage in renewing familial and social bonds, he stressed.

Jitu Changmai