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THE FASCINATING WORLD OF ASSAMESE CULTURE

The North Eastern states of India are the combination of what the famous journalist from Tripura Jyoti Prasad Saikia coined over a radio talk show the ‘Seven Sisters’. The land of seven sisters includes the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura. The green and mountainous land of Assam has attracted tourists not only from Assam or India but also from the foreign countries. Assam is the land of diverse cultures and with various races such as Mongoloid, Indo-Burmese, Indo-Iranian and Aryan. The culture of the assamese people is rich and the exotic inhabitants of the state of Assam are known as the “Asomiya” (Assamese), also the state language of Assam. Culture is the art of ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society. Every state, its people has unique culture and this is what makes people different from the other people of other culture. The state of Assam has miscellaneous number of tribes that has its unique culture. The diverse tribes includes Bodo, Kachari, Karbi, Miri, Mishmi, Rabha, etc. which are embedded in the land of Assam which has their own language though Assamese being the fundamental language of Assam. The first and foremost is the Assamese cuisine. The people of Assam are indeed very foodie and they basically rely on rice as their staple diet. A pure Asamese thali includes rice, lentils, fish or meat curry, many herbs and vegetables. Fish prepared with bamboo shoots, Khar and Tenga are the mouth-watering dishes to die for followed by pickle (Asar). The thalis are being served in the utensils made of bell metal. After the food being served the traditional journey of assamese thali is being ended with betel leaf and betel nuts commonly known as ‘tamul paan’ which every indigenous people of Assam strive for. The state of Assam is very famous for portraying the traditional dresses and it was seen by all in the recent act of the famous Bollywood icon ‘Priyanka Chopra Jonas’ who is the brand ambassador of the Assam Tourism has displayed the beautiful ‘muga silk’. Assam carries beautiful and exquisite pieces of clothing which include Dhoti and Gamosa for the menfolk followed by Mekhela Chador for the womenfolk. The Tribal wear of Assam also carries the magnificent clothing style worn by the Dimasa Tribe, the Bodo Tribe, the Mishing Tribe, the Rabha Tribe to name a few. Folk dances of Assam include the Bihu dance and the Bagurumba dance, the Bhortal dance, the Ojapali and so on. Numerous kinds of festivals are celebrated in Assam where people get a fair chance to get together despite of its differences in its cultural backgrounds and among them the most noteworthy is the Bihu festival. Agriculture is the main occupation of the people of Assam. The cropping done here includes rice, different pulses, jute, sugarcane, potatoes, cotton, oil seeds, coconut, areca (betel) nut to name a few and of course tea plantation where Assam is leading  from many states in exporting tea to other states and even to countries. Now that we spoke about occupation, we need to tell about the age tradition of carrying a ‘Jaapi’ whose main roots come from the fields of agriculture. Traditionally, Jaapi is a conical hat which is made from tightly woven bamboo and or/ cane and tokou paat whose scientific name is trachycarpus martianus which is a large palm leaf. Its history moves back to the ordinary Indians and farmers who used it for the protection from the sun and on the other side the Ornate Jaapi are worn as a status symbol by Assamese royalty and nobility. Today the Jaapi is an emblem of Assam. It is worn in a style of Bihu dance, placed as a decorative item in a house especially near the front door as a welcome sign and more importantly Jaapi and Gamosa are the two precious elements in Assam which are used to offer as a sign of respect in ceremonies.        Among all the states of the country, Assam is said to have the largest number of tribes demonstrating great difference in their tradition, culture, dresses and their way of living. Assamese culture and tradition along with their language is very sui generis for the outsiders as they really wonder about the Assamese of this North Eastern states. The North Eastern state of Assam is occupied with unusual sightings, untold tales, silent traditions and its unique fashion.  Assam is a land of magic not only for its place of Mayong but also for its outstanding patterns and embroidery that the people here are capable of making, the people from other parts of the states and countries themselves come to experience the treasures and the hidden beauty of this land. There are also many such things which has gone unexplored in these section of the Assamese culture but some of the very from the many has been explored which I hope will not get unnoticed.