A Brief Study on the Origin of Doul Utsav- Holi Festival in Assam - with Special Reference to Batadrava than, Nagaon, Assam

Abstract

Festival is a sum total of traditional behavior, it gives a unified context for the description and definition of the different genres of folklore like dance, music, religious rituals, traditional customs, food etc. and festival cannot be understood without an understanding of the interrelation of these components. The Assamese society is a traditional society like India and so the festivals performed in Assam are traditional in context. They are moments of special significance to the group or community and reflect the life of the people. Festivals mainly of the Vaisnavite sect of Assam are related to some incidents of Lord Krishna's life and are mostly identical with those of other parts of Assam. The Phalgu Utsav or Doul Utsav or Holi is one among the main Vaisnavite festivals observed in different Satras of Assam. The present work is an attempt to study the Doul festival in Sri Sri Batadrava Than, its geneses and different aspects related to it. This particular celebration was introduced by the famous Assamese preacher Srimanta Sankanrdeva for the first time in the Brahmaputra Valley, in Bordowa also known as Batadrava Than, a place 16 km away to the western side of the Nagaon town in the Nagaon district of Assam.