SMITA BHATTACHARYYA
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| A sketch by artist Hem Chandra Goswami of the bridges being built in Majuli. Telegraph picture |
Jorhat, July 25: The Majuli
Cultural Landscape Management Authority is hoping that it will be fourth
time lucky for Majuli as the river island readies to make another
attempt to enter Unesco’s World Heritage Site list.
As the deadline for submission of a new
report by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in this regard draws
nearer, the authority is working on all fronts to ensure that Majuli
does not miss out this time. Upper Assam commissioner Syed Iftikar
Hussain — who is also the chief executive officer of the authority —
said GSV Suryanarayan Murthy — the conservation architect deputed by the
ASI to prepare and update the heritage dossier of Majuli — has been
asked to extensively interact with experts on Majuli’s culture and
history before submitting the dossier on September 30.
“This time we would like to see the
heritage and culture of Majuli properly presented, and Suryanarayan
Murthy has been asked to incorporate everything, which represents the
ethos of the freshwater island after talking to the people and
discussing with experts,” Hussain said.
“After going through the dossier there are
still many things which have not been put in and this gives the
impression that (the dossier) does not reflect the immense composite
culture that makes Majuli unique in itself,” he added.
According to Hussain, the island is
strewn with treasures. Lying buried among the treasures at Dakhinpat
Xatra — one of the oldest xatras in Majuli — is a wooden
contraption, which tells time. It consists of a wooden bowl filled with
water, which seeps down in drops. A class of people selected by the king
would tell the time using this device. This water in the bowl would
last for two months.
“Similarly, there is an earthen lamp that
is said to be burning in the sanctum sanctorum of the Garmur Xatra for
more than 300 years now and there is an array of kharams (wooden slippers) made of marble or wood worn by the xatradhikars
and heads of the monasteries. All this and more reflects the culture
and heritage of the island and should be brought to light,” Hussain
said. Hem Chandra Goswami — the renowned mask maker of Samaguri Xatra —
has proposed to adorn the pillars of all the under-construction bridges
on the island with figures from Hindu mythology. This proposal will also
be forwarded to the government. Goswami has been asked to compile or
make miniatures of all the artefacts and elements that reflect the
essence of Majuli. Before the dossier is submitted a meeting will be
held with experts on the culture and heritage of Majuli and the people
of the island so that nothing is missed out, Hussain said.
Murthy, the man who is preparing the
dossier, represents the Hyderabad-based consultancy firm M/S Kshetra,
which provides consultancy services in matters of preserving heritage
sites/buildings and architectural planning. He had made a case for
Majuli in June this year at Unesco’s 36th session in Russia, but the
largest river island of Asia was denied the World Heritage Site tag for
the third time.
-Abakash Majuli
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